REVIEW
 
I hope everyone has been growing with me as we’ve been getting in shape spiritually with these truths about exercising our inward man. It’s been revelatory, church, and oh so beneficial as we have been using the way we get fit physically to show how we get fit spiritually. 
 
This is something that the apostle Paul shows us in First Timothy 4:6-8 when he says, “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
 
So most recently, we’ve been looking at some practical things that go into exercise –namely, the importance of hydration & rest. We learned that our relationship & connection with Jesus is the source of both and these things, and the thing we looked at last week was no different – the importance of plain ole’ walking.  
 
We learned that there are a lot of people out there who will spend all kinds of dollars to get fit. They join multiple gyms, they pay a personal trainer, they purchase all kinds of clothing and equipment, etc. But there’s something to be said for the simplicity of just walking to get in shape and to keep ourselves healthy.
 
You see, there are a lot of people who view spiritual fitness the same. They view the cost as too great and are, therefore, unwilling to put forth the effort to get in shape spiritually. I mean, after all, they never went to Bible college, they haven’t been a Christian that long, they aren’t as smart as other people, they’ve done too many bad things, etc., etc., etc. All of these excuses are similar to the reason folks don’t get in shape physically – because they don’t feel like they know how or it would be too much work because of their current condition. 
 
Well, what these who either might not feel like they have the time, or everything just seems so overwhelming, need to know is just how simply walking does so much for us. Likewise, walking with God does more for us than any other spiritual practice. 
 
We learned that this “walking with God” is man’s primary purpose for being on this earth: From the very beginning, the LORD made us for simple fellowship with Him and not for all of the things we do for Him. Yes, Adam & Eve regularly walked with God in the Garden, but we saw how that after their sin, they hid themselves from His presence, which is what we learned that we do, not just when we sin, but when we don’t walk with Him.
 
As we learned, the best way to avoid doing the wrong thing is to do the “one thing” which is to dwell in the presence of God every day. This was another point that we made last week from the 27th Psalm that made David a man after God’s own heart. But we learned that this was not just what David desired; it was something he learned was his vital need. 
 
Yes, spending time walking with God – that is, living in His presence – is something that we must have to experience the “eternal, everlasting life” that Jesus came to provide for us. And oh, how many benefits there are to walking with God. Just as there are a myriad of benefits to walking physically, there are equally as many benefits to walking with God spiritually.
 
So just like walking is one of the most basic things you and I can do to get fit, walking in His presence is one of the most foundational & effective things we can do to get spiritually fit.
 
So let’s grab those walking shoes – those spiritual walking shoes that say we are more than conquerors – and start fellowshipping with God on a regular basis in order to cultivate a good & effective Christian “walk.”
 
In fact, you can actually do both at once – walk with God while we walk physically. Yes, you can physically take a walk and walk with God at the same time! In fact, I highly encourage this! There have been a lot of times in my life where I would spend my times with God while I took a morning or evening walk, and those times are so fresh & flourishing – because I am raising up two birds with one stone (See what I did there?).
 
THE OUTWARD MAN VS. THE INWARD MAN
 
Now the next part of our spiritual exercise that I want us to take a look at is one that might not be the go-to form of exercise for most people.
 
You see, most people’s focus when it comes to exercise is external. In other words, most exercise to improve their physique like strengthening their muscles or shedding some excess weight. But most forget how important it is that we also give attention to strengthening the most important muscle in our body – that is, our heart.
 
Now the reason why so many focus on the outward & external rather than what lies beneath this flesh is because most walk in the flesh. In other words, they only care about what they can see and what others can see, which is just plain ole’ carnality.
 
This really speaks to something you’ve heard me harp on throughout this series – that the condition of our inward man is even more important than the condition of our outward man. Yes, the same epidemic of focusing on the carnal over the spiritual is manifest in how man tends to focus more on the outward than the inward.
 
Second Corinthians 4:16 says something along these lines: In this verse, the apostle Paul says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”
 
You see, like the world, oftentimes we as Christians are too focused on the outward man, our physical bodies, and never spend any time focusing on our inward man, our spirits.
 
Notice how the apostle Paul starts off by saying, “Therefore we do not lose heart.” But how many do this every day? They lose heart – meaning, they allow their hearts to become troubled, discouraged, anxious, etc.
 
Didn’t Jesus tell His disciples to not let their hearts be troubled (See John 14:1)? That means that we have to have the mentality that it is OUR job to not let our hearts be in a troubled condition. Yes, it is our job to not lose heart. Why? Because we are the bishops over our own heart. Amen?
 
Then Paul went on to say here one of the reasons we don’t lose heart: It’s because even though our outward man is perishing, our inward man is being renewed day by day.
 
Let’s deal first with the outward man part: This means that no matter how much we try, our physical bodies are decaying – meaning we are going to get wrinkles, we are not going to be quite as strong, we are not going to have the vision and hearing we once had, and we are going to lose hair where we once had it and gain hair where we don’t want it. These are just the facts of life.
 
But Paul went on to say, “the inward man is being renewed day by day.” So he was showing us that the difference between the flesh and the spirit is that while the flesh is doomed to decay, that the spirit is renewed every day. This means that the spirit should get stronger, smarter, and better looking every day. This is a great reason to look forward to getting older. The reason that most people hate getting older is because they won’t be as physically attractive or as physically active, but if we had the right mindset, we would love to get older because even though we might be losing some of our physical benefits, we can gain eternal spiritual benefits.
 
This why the apostle Peter said in First Peter 3:3-4, “Do not let your adornment be merely outward - arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel.”
 
Peter was not saying that it was wrong for women to fix their hair, wear jewelry, or wear nice clothes. He simply said to not let it be “merely outward.” He went on to say in the next verse to “rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” Peter said to let our adornment be of “the hidden person of the heart” – the “hidden person” as opposed to the “seen person.” That “hidden person of the heart” is the spirit of man.
 
So Peter was saying that the beauty of the spirit is “incorruptible” (or, imperishable). In other words, being physically attractive is fleeting, but being spiritually attractive is eternal and “very precious (or worth something) in the sight of God”. This shows us that just as the world deems someone to be worth something by how they look and what they wear, God deems us worth something when our spirits are adorned properly. Yes, the LORD says that a properly adorned heart is “very precious in the sight of God.”
 
So my point is that God is evidently more focused on our inward man than the carnal, natural man. And didn’t the LORD reveal this to us in the story of how David was picked to be Israel’s next king?
 
First Samuel 16:7 shows us God’s heart when He told Samuel— “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
 
So the LORD focuses on the heart – the inward man – and not on our outward appearance. This is what is important to Him and what in turn should be important to us – both physically and spiritually.
 
So let’s focus this week on the heart – no, not our physical heart, but the spiritual heart that the Bible speaks of. But before we tackle the spiritual heart, let’s look at what we can learn from the exercise that strengthens our physical heart.
 
WHAT IS CARDIO AND WHAT IT DOES
 
Now I already alluded to the fact that the exercise of our physical heart muscle is not something that most people like to focus on, but this “cardiovascular” exercise is so important to our overall health.
 
You see, this term “cardio” that we use as an abbreviation comes from the Greek word “kardía,” which means heart. Cardio exercise, also commonly referred to as aerobic exercise, is any type of physical activity that increases your heart rate such that it challenges and strengthens your cardiovascular system. The term “aerobic” means “with oxygen,” so cardio exercise involves exerting yourself to an intensity level where you can still breathe (even if rapid and deep) enough to take in the oxygen your muscles need to produce energy for the movements you are performing. Simply put, exercise typically counts as cardio if it involves intentionally coordinated physical actions that raise your heart rate for an extended period of time.
 
So a good cardiovascular workout will have you consistently breathing faster than you would while resting. The result will be more oxygen in your blood for your heart to pump to the rest of your body.
 
The following are a lot of the activities that fall into the category of cardiovascular exercise: cycling, running, jogging, swimming, walking, hiking, etc.  You can also use machines like ellipticals, steppers, treadmills and rowing machines to get the cardio your body craves.
 
Now this cardio exercise obviously has a ton of benefits for our physical hearts, but the benefits of cardio go beyond just our heart. It affects our entire body! Yes, cardio benefits our brain, our joints, our skin, our muscles, our digestion, our lungs. All of these things produce other benefits, such as weight loss, increased energy, improved sleep, a strengthened immune system, better moods, etc., etc., etc.
 
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HEART
 
But again, I’m not wanting us to primarily focus on “cardio;” we are more focused on “kardia” – that is, our spiritual, immaterial heart.
 
So like I’ve heard it coined by certain fitness buffs when they are planning on doing a lot of cardiovascular exercise – “I’m going to kill the cardio today!” – we are going to do the opposite; we are going to give life to the kardia (i.e. the heart) today! In other words, we are going to learn how to guard, keep, and protect the heart because of just how important it is to our spiritual lives.
 
Church, our heart is one of the most valuable things we possess. It is not only what God looks at, it’s what He looks for (Second Chronicles 16:9). It’s valuable to Him and, therefore, should be to us as well.
 
When Jesus came, He also had a lot to say about the heart. In fact, much of the doctrine that He brought revolved around the condition of our hearts. Part of the reason for that was because of the religious nature of His chosen people to only focus on the outside of the cup. But Jesus came to reveal that what comes out of the heart is what is truly important.
 
He connected the fruit of our lives with what comes out of our heart (See Matthew 12:33-35 & Mark 7:15-23). He taught in His Sermon on the Mount about how things like anger & lust in the heart are what the LORD looks at, not just the mere external observation of the law, which said not to murder or commit adultery (See Matthew 5:21-22; 27-28).
 
So, yes, Jesus placed a premium on the heart during His ministry. But did you know that the second wisest king Israel ever had also understood this very well? We see Solomon exhorting God’s people in Proverbs 4:23 with – “Keep your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life” (NKJV). The original King James says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
 
Notice what Solomon says comes from the heart – He says out of it “spring” the “issues” of life! Now the words “spring” and “issues” give us a word picture that I believe is extremely helpful to understanding the importance of the heart …
 
This word “issues” was oftentimes used in the times of the Old Testament to describe the “outgoings, goings forth” of a body of water or you could say the “channels or streams” that come from that larger body of water. So then when you combine this definition with the word “spring” the picture is painted of water that flows up out of our heart like a fountain or spring. It’s what “issues” from the heart like a well spring. (i.e. the outflow)
 
But it is not water that Solomon says flows from our heart; He says that the “issues in our life” are what flow out of it. You see, many of the conditions of our life are directly tied to the condition of our heart. Let me say it this way since we are talking about a spring of water: The purity and satisfaction of our life is determined by the fountainhead of our heart! If our heart is corrupt and impure then our life will be corrupt and impure. In other words, the currents & channels that come from a large body of water are symbolic of the influence (i.e. currents) and direction (i.e. channels) of our heart. 
 
You see, in the Middle East – especially during the days of Solomon – fountains and wells were watched over with special care. Why? It was because if the source of their water was contaminated, then their supply of water was useless. There were not many sources of water in those days (No, they didn’t have Macon Water Authority back then), so they protected the ones that they had at all costs. It was vital for them to do that! Likewise, the part of us that all the issues of our life stem from must be protected at all costs, lest we allow the enemy to contaminate our life. Therefore, this is a vital issue for us as well!
 
GUARDING THE HEART
 
But not only do we see the analogy of a wellspring being used, but we also see the analogy of a garden …
 
Any of us who have ever had a garden understand fully well that it takes work to keep a productive garden. In many cases, if you do not spray it down with insecticides or put an electric fence around it, different kinds of bugs and animals will devour your harvest. Likewise, our hearts are like the garden, and we must keep it with all diligence.
 
Let’s now look at this phrase – “Keep your heart with all diligence”: The word “keep” literally means “to guard, watch, protect and preserve.” It describes keeping something in a safe, secret place, and then, guarding that place. So Solomon was saying that we are to keep our heart in a safe and secret place similar to how we would keep our wallet, checkbook, or jewelry in a safe & secret place.
 
In the world, an extremely valuable jewel is oftentimes placed in a high security vault with all kinds of motion detectors, cameras, etc. And they do this for a rock which only has temporal value! How much more, should we apply this same kind of diligent guarding to our heart, which has eternal value?
 
Notice what Solomon goes on to say – He says that we are to guard our heart “with all diligence.” Actually, the Hebrew word for “diligence” here describes “keeping or guarding; to keep in custody or to imprison” and is actually translated “ward” in most cases in the King James Version. So that’s right – It has the essentially the same meaning as the word “guard” at the beginning of this verse!
 
So what the first portion of this verse literally says is – “Guard your heart above everything else you guard!” In other words, the Holy Spirit through Solomon was saying that the most important thing you have to guard is your heart! Therefore, guarding & keeping our heart is more important than guarding & keeping our most valuable possessions!
 
Now most people obviously don’t think this way. Most value things like fame, friends, family, finances, etc. But I think the LORD knows what is truly valuable, amen? And here we see wisdom telling us that the heart of man is one of the most important things that we possess, and we should guard & keep it with the same diligence as we would the physical things that we value the most.  
 
Like we’ve said, just consider the physical heart in this. When it comes to physical fitness, most only esteem vain things like how we look and that’s their motivation for exercise. But exercising the heart through cardiovascular exercise is by far the most important thing we can work on – because next to our brain, the heart is the most important organ we possess. And the reason for this is the heart is responsible for the “issues” (the channels & streams) of blood that flows through the body (and the life is in the blood, right? See Leviticus 17:11).   
 
THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER
 
Now if you study Jesus’ Parable of the Sower – the first and most important of the many parables about the kingdom of God that Jesus taught on His “sermon by the sea” – you will find that Jesus showed just how important the heart is. (See Mark 4:1-9;13-20)
 
You see, this parable is the one that Jesus said if we do not understand this parable, how can we understand any other of His parables (See verse 13). That was not Him saying that it was the easiest parable to understand, but that it was the most foundational parable on how His kingdom operates. 
 
And in this parable, while the emphasis might appear to be on the seed and what it produces, I see that at least equally important is the ground that the seed was being sown into. In fact, Jesus spent a lot more time talking about the different conditions of the ground than He did anything else in this parable. And guess what Jesus compared the ground to here? You guessed it – He said the ground that the seed is sown into is our hearts (See Mark 4:15).
 
So the fact that Jesus spent a lot more time talking about the various conditions of our hearts than He did describing the seed, teaches us an important lesson. What lesson is that, you ask? – that our heart is the issue!
 
Church, the seed of God’s Word works the same for all of us. It’s no respecter of persons. The variable is the condition of the heart that it is sown into. Therefore, what is the greatest issue here? It’s our heart!
 
You see, the things of God are not complicated. It does not take a rocket scientist to get it to work! All we have to do is be simple enough to read it, believe it, and then sow it.
 
Have you ever noticed how most farmers do not usually have PHD’s? No, in most cases, they are just hard workers with self-discipline that are simply capitalizing on the laws governing seedtime and harvest. Likewise, in God’s kingdom it is not those with the greatest pedigree, the greatest resources or the most education that produce the most in the kingdom of God. Generally, it is those who are least in the kingdom that produce the most in the kingdom. Amen! 
 
So, again, the complications are evidently not with the Word or else Jesus would have spent more time talking about the seed in this parable. No, the complications are usually within us - that is, in our hearts. This is why Jesus spent a considerably longer amount of time in His Parable of the Sower talking about the ground of our hearts that the Word is sown into.
 
Now it is important for us to understand that all four types of ground that Jesus describes here are actually those who come to hear the word. This is not those who stay at home, who willfully reject the truth or who are enemies of the Cross of Christ. These are those who actually want to hear the words of the Master. So if you are reading this today, this parable describes you, and it describes me also!
 
I bring this up because this then shows us that the majority of people who come to church, study their Bibles, etc. are not going to produce abiding fruit. So if only one out of every four believers will actually be considered fruitful in God’s sight, then that means that only about 25% of believers who have God’s Word sown in their hearts are considered productive. Now that’s a sobering thought, isn’t it?
 
Now in one of these four types of ground (i.e. the wayside heart), they never produced anything at all. In the next two (i.e. the stony ground & thorny ground), their vine did grow above the ground, but they did not produce any fruit that lasted. It was only with the good ground that we see any fruit that endured, and even in that type of ground, there were varying degrees of production (i.e. some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred).
 
So what should we say to these things? Should we just throw our hands up in the air and say, “Que sera sera?” No, the purpose of recognizing this truth is to encourage us to change the condition of our hearts, so that we can become that “good ground” and begin to produce some thirtyfold, some sixty and some a hundred. Amen?
 
Church, we might not have been doing this up until now, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late! We can begin guarding our heart today so that this process of seedtime & harvest can start working in our favor.
 
I cannot fully convey to you just how important the condition of our heart is! Please do not miss the truth that your spiritual heart is just as important to your spiritual life as your physical heart muscle is to your natural life. Now that is the gospel truth!

REVIEW
 
Did you know that the Scriptures speak of spiritual exercise in a similar way that we talk about physical exercise? Yes, there is a development & conditioning with our inward man that mirrors how we do these things with our outward man.
 
The apostle Paul makes this point in our golden text – First Timothy 4:6-8 where he says, “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
 
So what we have been doing in this series is we have been learning how getting physically fit mirrors getting spiritually fit. And we have gained some wisdom in doing so.
 
Most recently, we’ve been looking at some practical things that go into exercise –namely, the importance of hydration & rest.
 
Two weeks ago, we looked at the importance of hydration, seeing how our bodies need fluid to keep functioning because both our muscles and the entire body itself are made up mainly of water. So if we lose fluid in our bodies, we absolutely have to rehydrate ourselves or we are in serious trouble.
 
So we looked at what our spiritual hydration is, and His Name is Jesus. Yes, Jesus is that water of life that will quench every thirst and satisfy every desire.
 
So we learned that we have to continually come to the Lord Jesus and drink from the water that only He can provide. Just like you won’t be properly hydrated by only drinking something on Sunday but not on the other six days of the week, we need to realize that in order to remain spiritually hydrated, we must drink, drink, and keep on drinking.
 
So we learned how to go to the well – Jesus’ well – and let Him abundantly satisfy our hearts instead of looking to the broken cisterns of this world to fulfill us.
 
Then last week, we looked at the role rest plays in exercise, seeing that there are multiple benefits to resting. For one, taking regular breaks allows our body to recover and repair. It’s actually essential for progress and overall well-being, regardless of your fitness level or sport. We also looked at what some of the signs are of needing rest like pain, muscle fatigue, and extreme emotional changes.
 
But we also learned that one of the reasons why rest isn’t respected amongst most fitness junkies is because some view taking a recovery day or resting in general as a sign of weakness. In other words, many of those who are into exercise have learned to discipline themselves and press through those feelings of laziness. And because of that, they can tend towards not listening to their body and resting when it really needs it.
 
But as important as it is to be driven & determined to exercise and to push through those times that your flesh doesn’t want to put forth the effort, it is equally important to not get over into the other ditch either.
 
I think all of this certainly applies to us spiritually as well, amen? Some of us are hard workers. We have the mind to serve the LORD with all of our might and to labor for Him. And while that is certainly good and has its place – those of us who are wired this way can usually tend to err in doing “too much” for Him.
 
This is when we need to understand that the LORD is our rest stop and come to Him regularly. Yes, just as Jesus is that water of life that satisfies our spiritual dehydration, He is also our Sabbath rest and the One that gives us rest when we are laboring & overburdened.
 
Church, rest is essential – both naturally and spiritually. If we don’t learn to rest in Him and rest physically, we are in danger of burnout. Yes, I’m convinced that if we learned to rest physically periodically and found the rest that Christ offers us spiritually, we would experience much more grace to do the things that He has called us unto, and we would have peace while doing them. Yes, if we were sure to schedule a week or more of rest during the year, made sure we had a day every week where we rested, and made sure we spent a period of time daily in His rest, we would live in this supernatural Sabbath that Jesus said was ours. Amen.
 
But I want you to notice that Jesus is the spiritual fulfilment to these practical things like hydration & rest. In other words, Jesus is all in the simplicity of getting spiritually fit and into the spiritual shape that we aspire to. Always remember = Jesus is the answer. Amen!
 
And the next thing we will look at today is no different – Today, we will look at how important our time spent in fellowship with the Lord is. We will call today’s message – “Walking with God.”
 
PLAIN OLE’ WALKING
 
Yes, the next thing about spiritual exercise that I want us to talk about is the role just simply walking plays in us getting fit – Yep, just plain ole’ walking is one of the best things you and I can do to stay healthy & get fit.    
 
You see, all of the equipment and other helpful aids to getting in shape are man-made, not God designed. But the truth is that God gave you and I everything we need to get fit both physically and spiritually without the assistance of these manufactured things. In fact, if you go far enough back in history, you’ll find that the only real things that people used to stay in shape were just their physical members. So if someone wanted a “leg day,” that was comprised of simply walking, jogging, and running.
 
You see, there are a lot of people out there who will spend all kinds of dollars to get fit. They join multiple gyms, they pay a personal trainer, they purchase all kinds of clothing and equipment, etc. But there’s something to be said for the simplicity of just walking to get in shape and to keep ourselves healthy.
 
But, you know, the great thing about walking is that it can be done at any time and at any place. It doesn’t cost anything, but it certainly pays a lot!
 
You see, there are a lot of people who view spiritual fitness the same. They view the cost as too great and are, therefore, unwilling to put forth the effort to get in shape spiritually. I mean, after all, they never went to Bible college, they haven’t been a Christian that long, they aren’t as smart as other people, they’ve done to many bad things, etc. etc. etc. All of these excuses are similar to the reason folks don’t get in shape physically – because they don’t feel like they know how or it would be too much work because of their current condition. 
 
Well, what these who either might not feel like they have the time, or everything just seems so overwhelming, need to know is just how simply walking does so much for us. Likewise, walking with God does more for us than any other spiritual practice. 
 
So what do I mean when I refer to “walking with God”? Well, let’s go back to the beginning and gain a little insight into what it means to walk with God …
 
OUR PRIMARY PURPOSE
 
If you were to ask a bunch of Christians the question – “What is our primary purpose as Christians?”- you will get a variety of answers. Some think it is to witness to the lost and be a soul-winner. Some think it is to serve Him in the church. Some think it is to just simply love people. But all we have to do to answer this question is to look back at the beginning when God created man …
 
You see, God did not create Adam for him to witness and be a soul-winner. He did not create Adam to love his neighbor. No, God created Adam primarily because He wanted a family to fellowship with!
 
You see, there was no one for Adam to evangelize or to love. Now, of course, there are people that God has called us to win and love now, but based on God’s original intention for creating human beings, the “one thing” that He desires above all else is for us to come into relationship with Him.
 
Let’s look back at a verse in the beginning and gain some insight of how life was in the Garden and how life should be today in our garden …
 
Genesis 3:8 says, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”
 
Now, of course, this was immediately after man’s sin where they had just been deceived by the devil and their eyes were opened to know their nakedness. But what I want you to notice is that Adam & Eve were obviously very familiar with the Lord’s voice/noise/sound as He walked in the garden in the cool of the day. Yes, they knew His voice and the sound He made as He walked through Eden at this time of day. Why do you suppose that is? It’s because this was likely a regular habit of the LORD – to come down and walk with Adam & Eve, communing with them.
 
But I want you to notice the connection between the LORD “walking” in the garden and Adam & Eve hiding themselves from the presence of the LORD.
 
You see, because they weren’t walking with Him in the cool of the day per usual, they were hiding themselves from His presence. Likewise, when we don’t walk with God through our daily communion with Him, we hide ourselves from His presence and its myriad of benefits for our lives. Amen!
 
But I want you to notice that this is how the LORD designed things before the Fall. His original design was for His creation to walk with Him in the paradise He had given them. So again, if this was a part of God’s original design, we can conclude that this is God’s perfect will for us now. Amen?
 
But back to Adam’s folly for a minute – We understand that Adam willfully threw away his fellowship with God through disobedience, but we also know that Jesus was sent to reconcile & repair that relationship.
 
The most popular verse that we have pertaining to God’s plan of redemption is John 3:16 which states – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever shall believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
 
Now the basic viewpoint of this verse to most people is that God sent His Son to save us from something – namely, perishing in hell. But this verse makes an equal point that God not only saved us from something, but He saved us unto something. And what He saved us unto is “everlasting life” (i.e. eternal life). In other words, the salvation of the Lord that rescued us from sin and death was just the step that needed to be taken in order to bring us into this “everlasting life.”
 
Now the question that needs to be answered is – What is this eternal, everlasting life? Some would answer – “It means that we will live forever.” Well, I got news for you: You are going to live forever whether you believe on Jesus or not! What do I mean by that? I mean that you are either going to spend eternity in hell or in heaven no matter what. There is no other option. Your eternal destination is based solely on what you do with Jesus.
 
So what does this phrase “everlasting (or eternal) life” mean if it doesn’t mean just “living forever”? To find that answer we must look at John 17:3 which says, “And this is eternal (or everlasting) life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
 
The word “know” in this verse describes a personal and intimate knowledge of. It was used the same way in the book of Genesis when it says that Adam “knew” his wife Eve and she conceived and bore a son. This obviously describes Adam having intimacy with his wife Eve.
 
So, you see, the everlasting life that all believers possess is personally and intimately knowing the Father and the Son! In other words, eternal life is having personal and intimate fellowship with Father God and Jesus Christ now and for eternity. Praise God!
 
As First Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Our primary purpose and calling is to have fellowship with the King of kings and the Lord of lords! What a privilege this is, church!         
 
So my question then is, how do we think we are going to be as fruitful as we can be if we do not apply this “one thing” – our primary purpose – into our everyday lives? That would be like trying to build a large superstructure without having a good solid foundation laid, wouldn’t it? Fellowship with God is that foundation on which a fruitful Christian “walk” is based!
 
Now I use the word “walk” there intentionally because, to me, our Christian walk is our fellowship with the Lord – like Adam & Eve’s walk with God was simple fellowship with the LORD.
 
WALKING BY FAITH
 
But was there no opportunity to walk with God after the Garden and until Jesus came? While walking with Him like they did in Paradise might not have been a possibility anymore, that didn’t mean mankind couldn’t walk with Him another way. And what is that way – By faith!
 
Let’s move on to Genesis chapter 5 where we meet another man, one of the descendants of Seth, the great-great-great-great grandson of Adam.
 
In verse 18-24, we read about his genealogy along with a small amount of information about his life – “Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch. After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died. Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”
 
So notice how Enoch walked with God for the majority of his life, 300 of the 365 years he lived. That’s a long time to be walking with God, huh? But what does this mean that he “walked with God”? What did this look like?
 
Well, I believe Hebrews 11:5 gives us a little insight into this, answers these questions, and tells us a couple of things about Enoch:

1. It teaches us that he had faith simply because we are told that “By faith Enoch …”
2. It also shows us the fruit of His faith – He “was taken away so that he did not see death, and was not found because God had taken him.”
3. But it also reveals to us the reason the LORD took him – because “he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

 
But again, if we look at the limited information we have of him in Genesis chapter 5, we see only that he walked with God. So evidently this walk with God for 300 years was a walk of faith and, therefore, a walk that pleased God – for Hebrews 11:6 goes on to say, it is impossible to please God without faith. Therefore, Enoch walked with God by faith and pleased God as a result! Amen!
 
I wonder if we can do that? Again, I know that Adam & Eve lived in the paradise of God and actually had the LORD come down and physically walk with them like they were in heaven. That might not be possible for us today on this earth, but I wonder if the kind of walk with God that Enoch possessed is possible? I can guarantee you that it is! In fact, I can assure you that we can walk with God even better than Enoch did because what you and I have under this new & better covenant far outweighs even what he had.
 
OUR VITAL NEED
 
But it’s not just a question of if we can walk with God like this; it’s more of a question of should we. In other words, how important is it that we learn to walk with God, spending this time in fellowship with Him?
 
Well, if there was one practice that I believe is the most important to apply to our everyday lives, it is spending time walking with God (i.e. fellowshipping with God).
 
The reason I feel so strongly about this is because I have experienced first-hand just how much of a difference it makes in my life when I set aside a relatively small portion of my day to spend time with Him. When I have made this time for Him, I sense a grace that accompanies me throughout the day. I feel more strength in resisting the enemy. I feel wiser and make better decisions. I seem to be in the right place at the right time. And the list could go on and on.
 
On the other hand, when I have not made time for Him, things just do not flow as well. I do not experience the peace and joy that I otherwise would have. There is just not that same state of contentment and satisfaction in my heart.
 
Also, throughout my walk with the Lord, I have had Him tell me time and time again how important it is that I spend this time with Him. It has seemed like every time I have ever approached Him with the frustrations that I was having in my walk with God, this was the remedy and solution that I would get from Him.
 
Psalm 27:8 teaches us this. In in the Amplified Bible says, “You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (your presence), Lord, will I seek inquire for and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word].”
 
You see, God has commanded us to seek, inquire for, and require His presence as our vital need. He never tells us to do something that will not ultimately give us a better quality of life. So many times when He tells us to do something we think that He is trying to take something away from us. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Everything that our Heavenly Father commands us to do will be what turns out to be best for us. So when He says, “Seek My face!” God is not just trying to get something through us; He is really trying to get something to us.
   
You see, He knows that spending time seeking to know Him more and seeking His presence is vital to our spiritual life. As Jesus said, “without Him we can do nothing.” This is eternal life! But the problem is not getting God to know how much we need to spend time with Him… It is getting us to understand how vital it is for us.
 
The best illustration of the importance of this time spent with God I have ever heard was by Joyce Meyer: She likened it to having a pacemaker that needed to be charged at a certain time every morning. In this illustration, she asked the question- “If your life depended on recharging your pacemaker at that specific time every morning, where would you be every morning at that time? Of course, you will be hooked up to that power source! It wouldn’t matter if you did not sleep well the night before, if you would rather watch TV, or even if someone invited you to an all-expense paid trip to your favorite place. No matter how you felt or what came up, you would be recharging that battery at all costs. Why? Because it would be your vital need! This is how we should view our time spent with God!
 
Do you understand the mentality that God wants us to adopt? He wants us to be thirstier for the “living water” of His presence than we are for physical water. He wants us to be more zealous for entering into “the rest” that comes from abiding in Him than we are for our physical sleep. He wants our “one desire” to be in His presence every day! It has multiple benefits! It is our vital need! And it is also our call!   
 
Now of course we do not have to be this rigid about it because we are not going to die spiritually if we miss a day of recharging our spiritual battery. But if we do not adopt this kind of mentality the devil is sure to distract us.
 
Have you ever noticed that when you have decided to go to your prayer closet that every possible distraction will come up - the phone will ring, someone knocks at the door, the dog starts barking, etc? Not only will these external distractions come, but your mind will also start chasing all kinds of rabbits. For instance, you will have all these thoughts about all the things that need to be done around the house. Now you know good and well that if you were vegging out in front of the television you would not be thinking of how you need to clean out the garage.
 
So where do you think these external and internal distractions come from? You got it! It is the enemy that is planting these distractions in your path of fellowship with God.
 
So why does he fight our time with God like this? Do you think it might be because he knows how vital this time we spend with God is to our spiritual lives? I guarantee you this is why! He apparently knows something that we don’t… But no more! We are no longer going to be ignorant of and deterred from our high calling in Christ Jesus.
 
Lord, you have said, “Seek Me and require my presence as your vital need!” So we say to You – “Lord, one thing we will desire to do – We will seek to spend time with You!”    
 
So the Lord has made known to us that it is extremely important that we make this a daily habit of ours. Therefore, this “one thing” is what I consider to be the most important daily routine that we could ever adopt.
 
THIS ONE THING
 
Did you know that David already felt this way about His walk with God?
 
Most of us are familiar with how God called David a man after His own heart. Well, I believe we can see what made him a man after God’s own heart earlier here in his 27th Psalm.
 
In the beginning of Psalm 27:4, David said, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek …” He said that there was just one thing that he desired from God, and it was this one thing that he sought after. What was this “one thing”? “… that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”
 
Now the “house of the Lord” in the Old Testament was a type and shadow of the presence of God. It was there that the Holy of holies resided and the ark of the covenant dwelt – both of which were symbolic of God’s presence. But today, under our new and better covenant, the veil has been rent! God’s presence is not limited to a physical structure anymore!
 
So when David said that his one desire was to live in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, what he was really saying was that his one desire was to dwell in God’s presence all the days of his life. David longed to spend every day in God’s presence praising, worshipping, and fellowshipping with Him.
 
I believe this was the main thing that pleased God so much about David … David valued his fellowship with God so much and proved it in that he spent much time praising, worshipping, and loving on His God (as evidenced by the myriad of psalms that he wrote).
 
So let’s look at some of the benefits that David gives us of living in His presence …
 
THE BENEFITS OF WALKING
 
But before we get into all of the spiritual benefits of walking with God, let me share with what I learned about the benefits of physically walking because, again, we will find that they mirror each other …
 
I promise you that the so-called experts out there believe in the benefits of walking. I had to look at several different articles before I felt like I truly exhausted all of walking’s benefits.
 
So here is what they say walking does for us and how it benefits us:

1. Walking adds years to your life

 
If you want to keep adding candles to that birthday cake, start walking!
 
Taking into account certain factors, researchers discovered a 51% lower mortality risk for those who took 8,000 steps a day, compared with those who took 4,000. And the more the subjects walked, the greater the benefit. In fact, extending a stroll to 12,000 steps a day was linked to a 65% lower risk of death.
 
So if you think it’s too late for you to reap these benefits, know this: A certain study showed that those who became fit later in life cut their risk of a potentially deadly stroke in half.
 
But while there are benefits to just simply walking, the real benefits come to those who walk a little more briskly. Brisk walkers have been found to have up to 20 years greater life expectancy compared to slow walkers.
 
So yes, walking yields longevity – and the more intense the walk the better.

1. Walking bolsters the brain

 
It’s not a stretch to say that just a little walking (or other aerobic activity) grows your brain. Researchers have found that regular aerobic exercise appears to increase the size of the region of the brain responsible for memory, and the benefits can be pretty immediate.
 
Getting out there and walking regularly may even help those already experiencing memory problems. According to one Neurology study, just 35 minutes of continuous walking or stationary biking three times a week, combined with a heart-healthy Mediterranean diet, improved the scores on thinking tests of subjects who had “verified cognitive concerns,” such as remembering or concentrating.

1. Walking promotes weight loss

 
As we get older, fat that used to primarily land on our hips and thighs can start to shift to our bellies. That spare tire is stubborn, but regular cardio exercises can reduce it.
 
In a small study of 27 obese women, researchers found that power walkers were able reduce abdominal fat. What’s more, they did so without even dieting.

1. Walking helps one rest better

 
If you’re among the 50 percent of people over age 65 with chronic sleep problems, walking could be your ticket to more quality shut-eye — which is important for everything from preventing heart disease to staying sharp as you age.

1. Walking boosts the immune system and wards off certain diseases.

 
Walking can help protect you during cold and flu season too! A study of over 1,000 men and women found that those who walked at least 20 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week, had 43% fewer sick days than those who exercised once a week or less. And if they did get sick, it was for a shorter duration, and their symptoms were milder.
 
Physical activity boosts the immune system response during and after exercise. People who exercise regularly are known to get fewer viral infections and fewer severe symptoms when they do get sick.
 
Research has shown that in addition to lowering the risk of heart disease, regular walking reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, dementia, type 2 diabetes, and even breast cancer.

1. Walking strengthens the heart

 
Walking briskly helps strengthen the heart by increasing the heart rate and improving circulation, which can help lower blood pressure. Walking is an easy way to increase physical activity and is known to help prevent and manage heart disease for those with or at risk of heart disease.

1. Walking also helps lower blood sugar levels

 
Light-intensity walking can improve blood sugar levels after eating a meal. Research has shown that taking a low-intensity walk, even for a few minutes, after eating can significantly improve blood sugar levels compared to standing or sitting after a meal.

1. Walking burns calories

 
Now how many calories you burn from walking depends on how fast you walk, your body type, and even the surface you walk on. But the fact is, just simply taking a walk works wonders in burning those calories that we desperately need to get rid of.  

1. Walking helps lower high cholesterol

 
Research shows that regular walking at moderate intensity can help lower high cholesterol. Walking reduces cholesterol just as much as running. The more distance walked, the greater the cholesterol-lowering benefits.
 
That’s a lot of benefits, huh? And on top of all of these benefits, walking also is said to help our vision, promote more peace, ward off depression, and even improves mood, tames our sweet tooth, protects against joint pain, boosts our energy levels, etc. etc. etc.   
 
THE BENEFITS OF WALKING WITH GOD
 
But just like walking in the natural has tons of benefits, walking with God does as well!
 
In the rest of Psalm 27:4, David said that He sought to dwell in God’s presence every day for two reasons… “(1) to behold the beauty of the Lord and (2) to inquire in His temple.”
 
What do these two benefits describe? Both of these describe having a heightened awareness of the things of God. You see, in God’s presence we begin to see and know the things of God more clearly.
 
Number one, in God’s presence we catch little glimpses of how beautiful He is. There are times when He is manifesting Himself to us that we see just how wonderful and majestic He is. There are no words to describe just how glorious those times in His presence are. These are just small tastes of what we will be seeing for all eternity.
 
Number two, in His presence we get answers too. It just seems like when we spend time in His presence that knowledge, wisdom, and understanding abounds. I know in my own personal times with God that when I am worshipping Him, revelation knowledge oftentimes seems to come to me. Things that I had pondered for a long time will become crystal clear to me.
 
Then in verse 5 David went on to describe another major benefit of walking in the presence of God – His protection. He said, “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion. In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.”
 
This verse reveals the same truth that Psalm 91 does – that dwelling in His secret place offers us protection. Psalm 91:1 says that “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” And the rest of Psalm 91 goes on to describe all of the promises of God’s protection to those who have applied verse one to their lives. You see, we are sheltered from the devices of Satan when we abide in the secret place of God’s presence.
 
I like to picture it like we are walking down the sidewalk, sharing an umbrella with the Lord. So there is an umbrella over where God is, and when we are draw near to Him, walking hand in hand with Him, we get under the benefit of His umbrella. If we choose to abide outside of the perimeter of His presence, we will get wet. But when we walk in His presence, it’s like we are walking under His umbrella, protecting us from the elements.
 
You see, God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. He is the source of all good and perfect gifts and every blessing. So when we abide in His presence we are abiding in the sphere of all that God is, and a by-product of this is that those blessings of protection and provision become manifested in our lives.
 
But arguably the best benefit of living in God’s presence is the change that takes place in us. Sure, the natural benefits of protection and provision are great, but nothing can compare to the spiritual fruit that is produced in our lives.
 
You know, there is so much truth in the statement that you become like who you are around. Whether the people we hang around are good or bad, we are going to conform to whoever we spend our time with. So what do you suppose happens when we spend a quantity of time hanging out with God? We will become like Him, won’t we? That’s right! If we discipline ourselves to spend time with Him on a consistent basis, we will begin to see His fruit manifested in our lives. What an awesome truth!
 
Psalm 92 gives us a natural way of looking at this effect His presence has on our spiritual lives …
 
In verse 13-14 the psalmist says, “Those who are planted in the house of the Lord (i.e. His presence) shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age. They shall be fresh and flourishing.”
 
To me, these verses seem to be saying the same thing that Jesus said in John chapter 15 when He spoke of abiding in the Vine. In this parable, He spoke of the power of abiding in Him – how we bear much fruit by abiding in Him and how we cannot bear fruit apart from Him.
 
If we take a look at the natural illustration of a vine and a branch, we can see how this works in the spiritual too. You see, a branch derives its life through the sap that it receives from the vine. I have heard that the vine actually pumps the sap into its branches which makes the branches bear fruit. What do I mean by “makes” them? They will actually “drown” if they do not yield their fruit! So the branches have no choice. However, if the branch is detached, it has no source of life and, therefore, has no hope of being fruitful. The result of this is that it will eventually wither and fade.
 
You see, abiding in the presence of the Lord will cause our spiritual lives to be fresh and flourishing – that is, to be full of life, strong, and healthy because His life is causing us to be fresh and flourishing. As a matter of fact, the Hebrew word used for “fresh” literally means “to be full of sap.” Being planted by these rivers of living water will cause us to bear fruit in its season and also cause our “leaves” to not wither. (Psalm 1:3)
 
And the beautiful thing about this is that it’s a promise even if you are up in age. This Psalm promises that walking with God, in His presence, will cause even the elderly to bear fruit just like the young bucks! Amen! 
 
Church, there are so many benefits to walking with God. It’s incredible. And one of those benefits is that it helps get us in good spiritual shape.
 
Yes, just like walking is one of the most basic things you and I can do to get fit, walking in His presence is one of the most foundational & effective things we can do to get spiritually fit.
 
So let’s grab those “nikeo’s” – those spiritual walking shoes that say we are more than conquerors – and start fellowshipping with God on a regular basis in order to cultivate a good & effective Christian “walk.”
 
Oh yeah… I almost forgot … A cool thing about this is that you can actually do both at once – walk physically and walk spiritually. Yes, you can physically take a walk and walk with God at the same time! In fact, I highly encourage this!
 
There have been a lot of times in my life where I would spend my times with God while I took a morning or evening walk, and those times are so fresh & flourishing – because I am raising up two birds with one stone (See what I did there?).
 
So, let’s do it! Let’s walk with God and experience all the benefits thereof. Amen!

REVIEW
 
Church, as ignorant as most people are about the importance of physical exercise, it is so much worse when it comes to spiritual exercise. Now we cannot expect the world to understand this. But we, as believers, most definitely ought to know better.
 
You see, each of us is a spirit who lives in our physical body. So we ought not to give the majority of our attention to physical things. Sure, physical exercise is important when it comes to the longevity of our life on this earth, but this earth life we live is just a speck of sand in the beach of eternity. Therefore, living for eternity is of much more importance.
 
The apostle Paul makes this point in our golden text – First Timothy 4:6-8 where he says, “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
 
Notice how he says in verse 8 that bodily exercise profits a little. He wasn’t discouraging physical fitness, but was simply making the comparison of it with our spiritual fitness. We know this by how he went on to say, “but godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
 
You see, physical exercise & fitness do have their benefits. For one, it will give you a better quality of life in the life that now is. But the reason spiritual exercise & fitness have far greater benefits is because they have the promise of both the life that now is and the life which is to come. That means that our spiritual fitness will actually produce a better quality of life both in eternity and here on the earth.
 
So that’s why we have been camping on this subject – so that we can learn how this is achieved, and receive these promises. Amen?
 
So we started off looking at some of the prerequisites to getting in shape spiritually like the necessity of being born again and growing up in our salvation. We then looked at some good mindsets we need to have when beginning to work out like the power of having goals and learning to start small. And most recently, we have started looking at some very practical things that we need to be mindful of in exercise – both physically and spiritually.
 
Last week, we looked at the importance of hydration. We looked at how our bodies need fluid to keep functioning because both our muscles and the entire body itself are made up mainly of water. So if we lose fluid in our bodies, we absolutely have to rehydrate ourselves or we are in serious trouble.
 
Well, we looked at what our spiritual hydration is, and His Name is Jesus. Yes, Jesus is that water of life that will quench every thirst and satisfy every desire. So we learned that we have to continually come to the Lord Jesus and drink from the water that only He can provide. Just like you won’t be properly hydrated by only drinking something on Sunday but not on the other six days of the week, we need to realize that in order to remain spiritually hydrated, we must drink, drink, and keep on drinking.
 
So we learned how to go to the well – Jesus’ well – and let Him abundantly satisfy our hearts instead of looking to the broken cisterns of this world to fulfill us.
  
REST & RECOVERY
 
So, let’s look at another practical part of conditioning & exercise – the importance of rest.  Like hydration, this aspect of getting physically fit is also not commonly understood or esteemed among most people who exercise, but it is absolutely necessary.
 
One of the reasons why rest isn’t respected amongst most fitness junkies is because some view taking a recovery day or resting in general as a sign of weakness. In other words, many of those who are into exercise have learned to discipline themselves and press through those feelings of laziness. And because of that, they can tend towards not listening to their body and resting when it really needs it.
 
You see, as important as it is to be driven & determined to exercise and to push through those times that your flesh doesn’t want to put forth the effort, it is equally important to not get over into the other ditch either.
 
What do I mean by that? I mean that there is a balance between being disciplined & working hard, and knowing when it’s time to rest and recover. So whether you’re training for a competition or feeling extra motivated, more isn’t always better. Rest days are just as important as exercise. In fact, any successful fitness regimen isn’t complete without rest days.
 
I think all of this certainly applies to us spiritually as well, amen? Some of us are hard workers. We have the mind to serve the LORD with all of our might and to labor for Him. And while that is certainly good and has its place – those of us who are wired this way can usually tend to err in doing “too much” for Him.
 
I like to call this the “Martha complex” because, in the Scriptures, we have the account of Jesus teaching in Martha’s home. While it was evidently time to be resting at His feet and listening to His teaching, she was busy in the kitchen with much serving. And we know what Jesus told her, right? He essentially said to her that this wasn’t the time to be troubling herself with much serving; there was only one thing that was needful at that time, and that was to be resting at His feet and listening to His Word.  
 
Now Jesus certainly wasn’t saying that it was never time to work hard and serve the Lord. He was just saying that there is a time to rest in Him as well. And wisdom will be able to correctly determine when it’s appropriate to do both.
 
So if you have this tendency to have a “Martha complex,” you might need to take some time and get with the Holy Spirit, letting Him show you some things about yourself and accrue this wisdom that descends from above to get a healthy balance.     
 
THE BENEFITS OF REST
 
Now like I said, there is a lot of ignorance out there of the importance of rest. So let me give you a quick summary of the advantages of taking regular rest days so that we can see why it is so important for our physical well-being:

1. Rest allows time for recovery

 
Rest days aren’t about giving our flesh what it wants. It’s during this time that the beneficial effects of exercise take place. Specifically, rest is essential for muscle growth.
 
You see, exercise creates microscopic tears in our muscle tissue. But during rest, cells called fibroblasts repair those tears. This helps the tissue both heal and grow, resulting in stronger muscles.
 
Also, your muscles store carbohydrates in the form of glycogen. So during exercise, your body breaks down glycogen to fuel your workout. Rest gives your body time to replenish these energy stores before your next workout.

1. Rest prevents muscle fatigue

 
Rest is necessary for avoiding exercise-induced fatigue. Remember, exercise depletes your muscles’ glycogen levels. So if these stores aren’t replaced, you’ll experience muscle fatigue and soreness.
 
Plus, your muscles need glycogen to function, even when you’re not working out. By getting adequate rest, you’ll prevent fatigue by letting your glycogen stores refill.

1. Reduces risk of injury

 
Regular rest is essential for staying safe during exercise. When your body is overworked, you’ll be more likely to have an accident like falling out of form, dropping a weight, or taking a wrong step.
 
Overtraining also exposes your muscles to repetitive stress and strain. This increases the risk of overuse injuries, forcing you to take more rest days than planned.
 
 

1. Improves performance

 
When you don’t get enough rest, it can be hard to do your normal routine, let alone challenge yourself. For example, you might be less motivated to do an extra rep or run another mile. Even if you push yourself, overtraining decreases your performance. You may experience reduced endurance, slow reaction times, and poor agility.
 
Rest has the opposite effect. It increases energy and prevents fatigue, which prepares your body for consistently successful workouts.

1. Supports healthy sleep

 
While regular exercise can improve your sleep, taking rest days is also helpful.
 
Physical activity increases energy-boosting hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Constant exercise, however, overproduces these hormones. You’ll have a hard time getting quality sleep, which only worsens fatigue and exhaustion.
 
Rest can help you get better sleep by letting your hormones return to a normal, balanced state.
 
So there are obviously multiple benefits to rest. Taking regular breaks allows our body to recover and repair. It’s actually essential for progress and overall well-being, regardless of your fitness level or sport. Otherwise, skipping rest days can lead to overtraining or burnout. By understanding exactly how much rest your body needs, you can maximize your recovery and ensure that each training day is effective.
 
SIGNS THAT WE NEED REST
 
But like I said, it’s easy to forget these things and ignore the need for rest. So what are some signs that reveal that we might need a rest day? Well, if you notice any of the following signs, it might be time for you to take a break:

1. Sore muscles – While it’s normal to feel somewhat sore after exercise, persistent soreness is a red flag. What this means is that your muscles haven’t recovered from past workouts, which is obviously a bad thing.
2. Fatigue – Pay attention to your body, especially when you feel extreme exhaustion. If your body feels spent like this, it’s time to let your body rest.
3. Pain – Muscle or joint pain that doesn’t go away might be a sign of overuse or even an injury.
4. Emotional changes – When you’re physically burnt out, your hormones can become imbalanced. This can cause mood changes like irritability, crankiness, and other volatile mood swings.
5. Sleeping issues – High levels of these hormones can also make it hard to get quality sleep. As a general rule, quality exercise should cause us to sleep better, not worse. 
6. Reduced performance – If your normal routine feels difficult, or if you stop seeing progress, it might be time to take a rest day.

 
OUR SPIRITUAL REST
 
So now that we’ve seen the benefits of rest and signs that we might need to rest physically, how does this apply to our spiritual lives? Well, I think a lot of the same can be applied to the need for spiritual rest.
 
You see, the Bible speaks a lot about different kinds of rest for the children of God. It talks about the importance of physical rest, but also of a spiritual rest that only Christ can lead us into.
 
You see, like our spiritual hydration can only come through Christ as He is that water of life who alone can satisfy our every thirst, He is also that spiritual rest that causes us to rest from both the pressures of this life and the pressure of trying to live the Christian life. 
 
So regarding signs that we might be needing to enter His rest, if we are not sensing any grace to do what we know we are to be doing, like walking in love towards others or being patient, the reason might be because we are doing it in our own strength. When we try to live the Christian life in the flesh, it can create similar symptoms to the soreness, fatigue, and pain. Of course, these symptoms won’t usually be those physical things, but a need for spiritual rest can certainly be manifested as mental & emotional fatigue or pain. Like, are we feeling worn down mentally to where it feels difficult to ward off those negative thoughts? Are we not experiencing the peace that passes all understanding? Is our joy-tank feeling empty? All of these things can be symptoms that we are not currently living in His rest.
 
So it’s important that we pay attention to all of these things that are indicative of not living out of the grace that the Christian life is meant to be lived by. These things reveal to us that we might not be resting in Him.
 
So let’s talk a little bit about this spiritual rest that remains for the people of God …
 
One of the most popular passages of Scripture along these lines is Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30. So, let’s take a look at them: Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
 
One of the first things we see here is who the Lord was addressing – “all you who labor and are heavy laden.” Now this is just another way of describing folks who haven’t learned how to rest, isn’t it?
 
So, let’s look at these two types of people in detail – those who “labor” and those who are “heavy laden”:
 
First of all, the word “labor” describes “the feelings of being tired, fatigued, or weary that come as a result of the hard work (or, in our case, exercise) we are doing.” Therefore, it denotes working hard, laboring, toiling, and the physical and emotional effects that this effort can have on us. But we can see that while this word was primarily used to describe physical labor, Jesus was using it to describe those who were worn out in the spiritual sense.
 
You see, even though there is a good kind of “labor” for the Lord, there is also a bad kind. That is because there is a laboring with Him and then there is a laboring for Him, and there is big difference between these two. One can work for the Lord, but it not be Spirit-led or Spirit-empowered—meaning, they can do a lot of good, well-meaning and religious duties, but it not be what the Lord has directed us to do or how He directed us to do it at that specific time. I can assure you that if a believer is becoming tired when doing the good works that they are doing for the Lord then one of two things are true: Either they are doing something that the Lord did not tell them to do or they are doing what He might have told them to do, but in their own strength. How can I be so confident in this, you ask? It is because, as we’ve seen, the Lord’s yoke does not have unrest accompanying it. It is really that simple, church.
 
But we also see that Jesus invited those who are “heavy laden” to come to Him. Now this is not terminology that we might use today. What it means to be “heavy laden” is a burden is placed upon someone to where they are overloaded. And, oh, how this is certainly a cause of unrest!
 
Now this being overburdened would describe people who are overloaded with the cares of this world and also those overburdened by the law and the keeping of religious rules and rites. All of this leads to unrest—for when we try to work harder, even in our spiritual lives, we add stress that is unwarranted.
 
You see, like I alluded to earlier, many people have the mentality that with anything – from our vocation to our spiritual walks – that if we just work harder, everything will be better. But that is not necessarily the case: working harder is not always the answer and certainly is not wisdom. Like they say in the business world, we need to learn to work smarter and not just harder. This applies to the kingdom business world too! We need to learn to work smarter for the Lord and not just do more and more – and that would certainly include learning when to rest.   
 
So, we can see that those who are in these situations need only do one thing—Come to Him! Yes, like Jesus invited those who thirst to come to Him and drink, He invited everyone who labors and is heavy laden to come to Him to receive rest for their souls. Sounds like a restful life, saints!
 
So, we saw that herein lies one of the primary reasons that we live both dehydrated and tired lives – It is because we do not make our personal relationship with God a priority. I am convinced that if we would make the “first thing first” and accept the invitation to “Come to Him,” we would be more at rest in our souls. 
 
THE REST THAT IS GIVEN VS. THE REST THAT IS FOUND
 
Now I want you to notice Jesus’ promise to those who come to Him when they are tired & worn out: He said, “And I will give you rest.” So, when we learn to come to Jesus—whether that be us simply turning our attention towards Him or us actually drawing near to Him—He has promised that we will be given “rest.”
 
So, what can we determine if we are not at rest? That we haven’t come to Him like He described in this passage. And I’ll tell you—people don’t like to acknowledge that, but either Jesus is telling the truth here or they are. Which one of these options do you think is true? I, for one, choose to believe Jesus over my own experiences. Amen?
 
But I want you to notice that although Jesus said in verse 28 that He will give us rest when we come to Him, in verse 29, He said that we will “find” rest by taking His yoke ourselves and learning from Him.
 
You see, we must understand that one rest is given, and the other is found. Yes, one is experienced when we come to Christ upon making Him our personal Lord and Savior. This is the positional rest we have entered into—and many of us can attest to immediately receiving this rest the moment we called on the name of Jesus and were saved from the burden of sin.
 
However, there remains a rest that we can partake of experientially—and that is when we exchange our weakness for His strength, when we learn to wait on the Lord and draw near to Him in fellowship. But like we saw, this rest for our soul must be found—which indicates that we have to search for it. 
 
How do I look for this rest, you might ask? We find it through our fellowship with the Lord—through learning to sit at His feet like Mary did and seeking Him, not seeking it. Yes, we are not going to find peace by seeking for it, but by seeking the Lord Himself. In other words, once we find that secret place in the presence of the Prince of Peace, we will find the peace we desire. 
 
You see, oftentimes we gravitate towards doing things in our own strength and we begin to pull that “Martha” thing that we have already referred to — and that happens even with trying to find peace. This is when we must become more like Mary who learned when to sit at the Master’s feet and draw her strength from Him. Strength comes from fellowship—strength for everything from serving the Lord to simply being calm and quiet. 
 
But this rest only comes through Him, and that is the point we need to take away from this.
 
THE REST THAT REMAINS
 
In fact, Psalm 23:2 teaches us this principle: In it, King David said of His Good Shepherd, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.”
 
First of all, the entire phrase at the beginning of this verse— “Me makes me to lie down”—comes from one Hebrew word, the word rabats. This word literally means “to stretch oneself out or lie stretched out.” Thus, the reason that this word is translated “to couch” in a couple of places. Therefore, this word describes “reclining.” So, we might translate this first half of Psalm 23:2 like so today: “He helps me to take a load off and to rest & relax.”
 
You see, if we are not joyfully serving the Lord, then we are not serving the Lord the way He intended for us to. When we are living the Christian life correctly, we will live a life that is full of rest & relaxation. It is only when we try to live the Christian life in the arm of the flesh that we become stressed-out and lose our peace.
 
Saints, it is not the Lord’s will that any part of our Christian walk feels like “work.” Sure, it is not always pleasant putting the flesh under, and sure, it is not always easy to go through the various trials we fall into. But if everything always seems arduous and an uphill battle, then we are likely missing it in some way. Therefore, to lie down in green pastures describes our Good Shepherd leading us, His sheep, to places of comfort, rest and relaxation—like a spiritual couch or recliner. Amen!
 
Now the next thing David said in Psalm 23:2, essentially teaches us the same thing: “He leads me beside the still waters.” 
 
The phrase “beside the still” comes from the Hebrew word menuwchah and describes a “rest or resting place.” It carries the idea of a comfortable, still and quiet place or thing (and in this case, that thing is “water”). So, these “still waters” that David describes here could literally be described as “waters of rest” and for us to be led beside these still waters would describe us being led and guided alongside places of rest—places that are quiet, still and comfortable. Amen.  
 
So, again, this is what happens: We come to Jesus in our fatigue & exhaustion and He — our Good Shepherd — leads us into our resting place. In other words, there remains a rest for the people of God — a stream that makes glad the city of our God. It is beside these still waters that we find rest for our souls.
 
In fact, this is actually the same word that was used to describe the Rest of God referred to in Psalm 95:11--the same Rest that the writer(s) of Hebrews describe in Hebrews chapter 4.
 
Now most people associate this rest referred to in both the 95th Psalm and in Hebrews chapter 4 as heaven and us passing through death’s doors to enter into His rest in eternity. And while, in all likelihood, we certainly will experience a peace in that day that will by far transcend what we will walk in on the earth today, it is entirely incorrect for us to just roll with the punches of this world and only expect to find rest for our souls when we die.
 
If you recall, we spent a good amount of time in our study of the 23rd Psalm a few years ago emphasizing the fact that it is not just a funeral psalm. No, it is a life psalm because the language in it indicates that the Lord’s sheep is walking through the valley of the shadow of death, fearing no evil, and that the Lord has prepared this table for us in the presence of our enemies. There are no enemies in heaven! There is nothing to fear there—no valleys of the shadow of death, only mountains of life! Amen?  
 
You see, this “Rest” was an obvious reference to Canaan, the Promised Land, and was described as a rest in contrast to their 40-year journey in the wilderness. Canaan had giants in it; heaven won’t. So, the promised land that you and I can possess today is a life of overcoming those giants that oppose us and keep us from receiving our inheritance, which certainly includes rest.
 
Now this “wilderness” period was certainly that feeling of no rest—for it involved always moving and striving and never experiencing the peace the Lord has for His people. Well, likewise, there is rest that you and I can enter into in this life! That is those still waters of rest that He leads us beside! That is that spiritual recliner that He makes us lie down on! All of this is for us now in this life.
 
And sadly, that is where many Christians live—in the wilderness, living from miracle to miracle (which means they are also living from crisis to crisis) and experiencing this striving, working, and arduous lifestyle.
 
There is a better life that that, saints! Yes, I said there is a better life! And that is—living in the blessing of Canaan where we enter into His Rest! Yes, there remains therefore a rest for the people of God—where we can cease from our works, our striving and busyness. This is the Sabbath that we are called to observe—where we learn to rest in the work of another—namely, the Lord Jesus Christ’s work on the Cross. Its ultimate fulfillment will be when we leave these tents and live in the eternal rest in the kingdom of God, but there is also a rest to be experienced now. A sabbath, if you would. Amen.
 
JESUS, OUR SABBATH
 
And this is why Jesus said for us to come to Him in order to receive His rest—because He is the fulfillment of the Sabbath!
 
Now this leads us into an important biblical principle that was first referred to in the beginning during creation, then was instituted under the Law, and finally was fulfilled in Christ—the Sabbath, which is symbolic of this rest we are talking about today.
 
So, let’s start out by looking at this commandment that God gave His people: In Exodus 20:8-11, God gave them the Ten Commandments and said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
 
In this Scripture, we see how He gave His chosen people the Sabbath by comparing it to when He rested from His work in creation.
 
Now it is important to understand that God did not “rest” in the sense that we think of resting. When we think of resting, we think of recuperating because of fatigue, but this is not what is implied here. God rested on the seventh day, not because He was tired and exhausted. He rested because the work was finished & complete. There was nothing left to do.
 
This word “rest” described more of a cessation of activity, the ending of effort. A good example of what transpired here is an artist who was working to paint a beautiful masterpiece and then when his or her picture was completed, they leaned back in their chair observing their completed masterpiece, maybe with their brush in their mouth. This image in no way describes an artist laying down his brush because it got too heavy. No, he rested from his work because his work was finished and complete.
 
God had created the heavens and earth and all that is within them and saw that it was all “very good” (Genesis 1:31). It was finished! His work was complete! So, He was attempting to get His people to see that the work of creation had been completed. Therefore, He gave them the Sabbath to illustrate to them that they are to rest in God’s finished work of creation and redemption. 
 
So, what is our attitude to be regarding the Sabbath? Are we to keep the Sabbath or not? Well, let’s look over at Colossians chapter two and, in this passage, we will see the true purpose of the Sabbath and how we should be fulfilling it.
 
THE SHADOW OF THE SABBATH
 
Colossians 2:11-15 says, “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
 
So, notice here that things like circumcision (another big point of contention), water baptism, and all the other “handwriting of requirements” (i.e. the commandments of the Law) have been fulfilled in us who are in Him. Amen! 
 
Now notice this: Paul goes on to say in Colossians 2:16, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths…”
 
In other words, because the law has been fulfilled in us through the finished work of Christ (i.e. “so”), we are to let no one judge us in food or in drink (this is dietary laws of the law), or regarding a festival (all the feast days) or a new moon (some other requirement for the Jews to keep) or SABBATHS. Or what? Or SABBATHS! This implies we are not to let anyone judge us regarding keeping the different Sabbaths because we are now under the perfect law of liberty.
 
But why? Why are we free from keeping the Sabbath today under our new and better covenant? Well, continue reading: In verse 17, Paul goes on to say, “which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”
 
Do you see this? All of these requirements of the law—the dietary laws, the feasts, and, yes, even the Sabbath—are shadows of things to come! This means that all of these commands the Lord gave them were meant to foreshadow something which was to come, namely, SOMEONE who was to come—and that is Christ! Praise the Lord!
 
Actually, this word “substance” literally means “body.” So why would we continue hugging the shadow of the One we love when we have their body? That would be kind of weird, wouldn’t it? 
 
So, what does this teach us? It teaches us that the Sabbath is simply a shadow of Christ and, therefore, Christ is the fulfillment of the Sabbath. Yes, saints, JESUS IS OUR SABBATH REST!
 
IT IS FINISHED
 
Let’s look at another passage where the Lord gave His chosen people a command concerning the Sabbath and we will see this more clearly:
 
Deuteronomy 5:15 says, “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”
 
Notice the word “therefore” in this verse: Being redeemed from Egypt is a type of our salvation, so this is why He commanding them to keep the Sabbath? Because He did it (brought them out of Egypt) with His mighty hand and outstretched arm. Likewise, Jesus brought us out of the kingdom of darkness and we should rest in His finished work.
 
Practically speaking, God gave them one day a week not to work to illustrate to them that they are not their own source. In other words, the Sabbath had an element of trust to it. You had to trust the Lord that He could do more by His mighty hand and outstretched arm in 6 days than you could do by your arm and hand in 7 days. It was to illustrate to them that they are not their own Savior and Provider — God is. 
 
So, this is what we need to understand about the seventh day — that when we were made a new creation in Christ that His work in us is complete. Therefore, we are not a work in progress. His work of grace in our spirit is finished! And it was not by our own hands that we were saved — Jesus did the work Himself.
 
This is why Jesus said on the Cross just before He gave up His spirit that “It is finished!” He was saying that the price that needed to be paid for our salvation was complete. He was saying that what He hung on that Cross to accomplish was sufficient. Nothing else needed to be done! The price needed for our redemption had been fully satisfied and we are complete!
 
You see, the word “sabbath” obviously means “rest.” In fact, the words “seven, sabbath, & rest” all come from the same basic word in the Hebrew shabat. And we know the number seven in biblical numerology describes “completion.” Therefore, we see the meaning of the Sabbath: It is that God indeed rested on the seventh day because His work of creation was completed. Amen.
 
So, we being children of God who have been made new creations in Christ Jesus ought to also follow our Heavenly Father’s pattern—know that the work of the new creation (i.e. salvation) has been completed within us and now we are to rest from our works of the flesh that seek to accomplish what has already been accomplished in us through Christ Jesus. Amen. We are complete in Him. The work of salvation has already been accomplished within us, so now we can cease from our works (i.e. works that seek to justify and obtain what can only be received by faith in His grace) as God ceased from His works. We must cease our WORKS of trying to become righteous (which are not good enough) and REST in the work that Christ did to atone for our sins. Therefore, we can rest in all the works that Christ has done for us! He has paid the price and done everything that needs to be done in regard to our salvation!
 
The number seven in Biblical numerology describes “perfection and completion.” Thus, our salvation and the new creation we were made is perfect and complete! There is nothing left undone! God made all things good in the beginning and God has made all the things that are new in us good! When God looked over all that He had made, He said it was very good! Likewise, God looks at His work in us and says it is very good! We have passed His inspection! Therefore, the rest is essentially learning to rest in God’s finished work!
 
You see, so many believers never learn to do this. They see Christianity as a religion, based on a bunch of rules and regulations, and if we do all of these things, or rather, simply avoid certain things, then we find ourselves in the good graces of God. But this is not Christianity! Christianity isn’t even a changed life; it’s an exchanged life. It is where we, as Jesus said in Matthew chapter eleven, “take His yoke upon us.” In other words, it is all about Jesus—learning to come to Him, trust in Him, and letting His life be lived through you. It is resting in His finished work on the Cross! Amen!
 
Boy, I can tell you, this alleviates the exhaustion from our lives when we learn that Jesus has done this “very good” work of salvation, and it is truly finished! Now you and I can learn to not only let our salvation rest in Him, but also every other battle of life. Yes, every need, every care, every trial, etc., etc., etc.—all of these are His concern, not ours. So, that resounding truth that we have all likely heard (i.e. the battle is not yours, but God’s), is true in every situation we find ourselves in. Amen.
 
Therefore, this rest is rooted in knowing that the work of salvation is complete—everything from our eternal security to the temporal situations we find ourselves in. All of these battles belong to Lord, and He has already fought them for us. So, us learning to enter into His finished work is a big part of finding rest for our souls.  
 
THE WISDOM IN THE SABBATH
 
However, this is not to say that the physical observance of the Sabbath has no benefits: Yes, although we are not bound to legalistically observing a day like the Sabbath anymore, this does not mean that there are no benefits to observing a day of rest every week. Yes, like it is with many things contained in the Mosaic and Levitical laws, there are certain natural benefits to doing certain things that the law tells us.
 
For instance, how many of you know that even though we are free to eat bacon, crab legs, pork chops and lobster today, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to make these things a large part of your diet. Why? Because the world will even tell us that these things are not the healthiest things we can put in our bodies. Likewise, even though we are not bound to observe the Sabbath, that does not mean that there are no benefits to observing a day of rest every week. In fact, we have come to learn that it actually is a good thing for everyone to rest one out of every seven days.
 
Therefore, I would say that this is good principle for each of us to live by in order to live free from exhaustion – have a day each week where we detach, disconnect, and decompress—that is, where we lay down every project, where we turn the phone off, where we don’t even try to problem-solve in our minds; just a day of rest where we put our relationship with the Lord as our priority and we even enjoy some nice recreational things that do not require a lot of physical or mental energy. Amen? I bet if we would make sure to schedule this on a weekly basis, we would live more stress-free lives. Amen?   
 
However, like I stated earlier, the one day a week Sabbath is not the only Sabbath instituted under the law; there was also the seventh year Sabbath. And what this teaches me is that there are obviously other periods of rest that are wise to do as well. For example, it’s obvious that annual vacations are good for the soul too, right? Yes, having a week of rest can really help to rest and rejuvenate you. Likewise, I think it is wise to schedule periodic times of rest throughout the year where we can cease from the physical and emotional labor and focus on the spiritual side of our life.
 
We do this as pastors: Because of all of the burdens of the people that we try to help carry, it is easy for a minister to become weary and overburdened. This is when that term “burnout” can occur. So, a wise decision for those who minister full time is to take a regular “sabbatical”—which is a time period, whether it’s a day, week, month, etc. to disconnect and get refreshed in the presence of God. 
 
But I’ll add this one thing: I think if we really wanted to be balanced and enter into His rest consistently, then it’s not only just one day a week or one week a year that we need to strive for; we need a certain period of time every day in order to find rest for our souls. What I mean is, we need that period of time every day to “come to Him,” simply meditating on His Word, praising & worshipping Him, etc., to where that rest is found daily.
 
Which leads me to my next point: What we do during those “sabbaticals” is important too.
 
Like when it comes to the rest times we take from physical exercise – this doesn’t mean that we just veg out on the sofa, eating whatever we want. No, there are good productive types of rest and there are counter-productive types of rest. The experts out there will tell you how to best utilize your rest periods so that your body can rejuvenate & recover in the best way possible.
 
Well, the same is true for spiritual exercise: Yes, we need to rest, but there are things we can do when resting that make it more productive. Things like reading your Bible, praying for others, etc. but there is something very specific that you and I can do that actually causes us to enter into His rest. Are you interested in knowing what that is? Speaking in tongues! The Scriptures teach us that this is the rest!
 
In Isaiah 28:11&12, we are given a prophetic glimpse of this benefit of praying in other tongues. In this passage of Scripture, we have what many consider to be the only reference to this particular manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. In fact, we know these verses in Isaiah are prophetic of this New Covenant gift because the apostle Paul made reference to this Scripture in First Corinthians 14:21 when admonishing the Corinthians on the subject of tongues. So, let’s look at these Scriptures in Isaiah chapter 28.
 
In verse 11, Isaiah says, “For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people…” The apostle Paul used this particular statement to show how one of the many diversities of tongues is to be a sign for the unbeliever (see First Corinthians 14:21-22), but if you look on to verse 12, I believe the Holy Spirit through Isaiah gives us a result of these “stammering lips and other tongues”… He says, “To whom He said, ‘This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest.’ And, ‘This is the refreshing’; yet they would not hear.” Notice in this verse we are told that two of the results of praying in other tongues are that we enter into a rest and that we experience a refreshing. These are two of the specific characteristics of what Paul deemed “edification.”  
 
Did you know that when you become weary in well doing and begin to grow faint in your race of faith, that praying in other tongues is a way that you can enter into a supernatural rest? Did you know that when you feel dry and empty in your soul that you can experience a supernatural refreshing through your prayer language? That’s right! You don’t need to run to someone else to pray for you or to the nearest revival service to get a fix.
 
You see, this is what so many believers do: They look for a place where God is moving and drive miles to go get that quick fix from God. But that is only a superficial way of experiencing a personal revival. The best way to experience a personal revival is to get it from the inside/out and not the outside/in! All you need to do to enter into the rest and refreshing of the Holy Spirit is to set aside a period of time, go into your prayer closet and pray in other tongues for an extended period of time. I guarantee you if you do this, your battery will get charged up and you will experience more peace and joy than you were previously experiencing!
 
Like I made the point of at the beginning of this teaching, this must be done when it comes to physical exercise. Your body needs to have time to rest & repair after exerting itself. Likewise, our spirits need times of resting in Him in order to be renewed day by day. 
 
Church, I’m convinced that if we did these four things: Made sure we scheduled a week or more of rest during the year, made sure we had a day every week where we rested, and made sure we spent a period of time daily in His rest, we would live in this supernatural Sabbath that Jesus said was ours. Especially, when we include praying in other tongues all along the way, every day.
 
May you find your Resting place in Him today and always. Amen.

REVIEW
 
I hope you’ve been getting a lot out of this, our current series, which is geared towards us getting spiritually fit. And let me reiterate to you just how important our spiritual development is – It’s absolutely vital, church! Just like we shouldn’t allow our physical bodies to spiral downward, not taking care of this, our temple of the Holy Spirit, we shouldn’t allow the eternal part of us to suffer either. Yes, as important as our physical condition is; this can’t compare to the condition of our inward man.
 
So what we have been doing is learning how we get our spirit man, the hidden man of our heart, in shape and healthy. And we are basing this on First Timothy 4:6-8 where the apostle Paul makes the comparison between physical nutrition & exercise and spiritual nutrition & exercise.  Again, these verses say, “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
 
So if we are going to develop our inward man and get in shape spiritually, then we are going to have do certain things. And what we’ve learned is that the same way we get fit and in shape physically, that’s how we get fit and in shape spiritually. No, I’m not referring to these physical things like being nourished & exercising helping us spiritually. I’m referring to how there are certain spiritual practices that will both nourish our spirit and exercise those spiritual muscles.
 
So most recently, we have been looking at certain mentalities that we need to possess when entering this spiritual exercise. And last week we learned the importance of setting various goals – everything from the outcome goals to the process goals that get us to the ultimate outcome.   
 
We learned that the outcome goal of Christianity is to finish & win our race, to receive the crown of righteousness, and get inducted into God’s hall of fame! But the process goal that gets us there is Christlikeness. Yes, becoming more like Jesus in the way we think, in the way we speak, in the way we act, etc. is what will bring us to our ultimate goal. 
 
This is why I call being like Jesus the goal above every goal – because if we adopt the same mentality as Him, we will receive the end of our faith and that crown of righteousness at the finish line. Amen! 
So now that we have covered some of the important mindsets when entering exercise, let’s start looking at some of the more practical things – things that any good personal trainer or fitness expert would tell you as you get into working out …
 
THE IMPORTANCE OF HYDRATION
 
Now as we head into some of the more practical things, it’s important to understand that there are some parts to fitness that are relatively unknown to the average person. And one of these things that most of those who desire to exercise are ignorant of is the importance of hydration – before, during, and after working out.
You see, our bodies need fluid to keep functioning, and that’s especially true during exercise. Without refilling the water we lose while working out and other rigorous exercise, we could experience symptoms of dehydration, such as dizziness, nausea, fatigue, headaches, muscle cramps, and excessive thirst. It’s even possible to have a heat stroke if we do not properly hydrate ourselves. 
You see, drinking enough water keeps the body hydrated, which helps the heart more easily pump blood through the body. So if you’re well hydrated, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard. It also helps muscles work efficiently.
Did you know that your body weight is made up of 60% water, with your muscles consisting of 75% water? And when you exercise, you shed that fluid through sweat. Therefore, not replacing those fluids can negatively impact your performance in several ways. Therefore, maintaining proper fluid levels is vital because it:
a)    Maintains body temperature. When you work out, your body temperature rises. So one way to stop your body from overheating is by sweating. Therefore, if you aren’t producing enough sweat, your body cannot cool down.
b)   Boosts endurance. Water flushes your body with the nutrients it needs to keep going. Without it, your energy lags, your muscles cramp, and you’ll cut your workout short. So if you want to exercise longer, you need to drink plenty of water.
c)    Keeps you focused. Dehydration also affects your brain, leaving you foggy and unable to concentrate. So when you lose focus because of dehydration, your athletic performance can suffer.
d)   Speeds recovery. Are you feeling tired and a bit achy after a workout? That’s normal. But drinking water after exercise helps you recover faster and prepare for the next workout.
So it’s rather obvious that hydration is important when it comes to exercise. But again, there are so many who are simply ignorant of this and, therefore, don’t properly hydrate themselves when exercising.
Well, do you figure that it’s any different with spiritual exercise? I “drink” not! No, the fact is, just as ignorant as some people are of the importance of proper physical hydration, there are plenty of Christians who are ignorant of just how vital being spiritually hydrated is.
So what is this spiritual hydration? Well, it’s not a question of “what” it is as much as it’s a question of “Who” it is! You see, didn’t the Lord Jesus Himself compare Himself to being the One who would satisfy our every thirst on multiple occasions? He sure did!
One of our more popular passages of Scripture is found in John 7:37-39 where we are told – “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
So in verse 37, by addressing anyone who thirsts, He is essentially referring to those who are spiritually dehydrated. And church, this is certainly a very real condition! In fact, until someone comes to Jesus and drinks from the water that only He can give, they remain permanently dehydrated. They might not realize it, but this truly is everyone’s condition who has not come to Christ.
However, I personally don’t believe the “drink” part is automatic just because one has been born again and has their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. No, we might have once “drunken” from Christ, but there is a daily “going back to the well” that we all need to experience in order to abide or remain spiritually hydrated.
Notice that Jesus went on to describe this hydration as the promise of the Holy Spirit. Well, the Holy Spirit also isn’t just a one-time experience either. Sure, we might have been filled with the Lord’s waters of life, but the Scriptures speak about many subsequent refilling’s of the Spirit to stay full of this life-giving water. Amen?
So my point is that we have to continually come to the Lord Jesus and drink from the water that only He and His Spirit can provide. Just like you won’t be properly hydrated by only drinking something on Sunday but not on the other six days of the week, we need to realize that in order to remain spiritually hydrated, we must drink, drink, and keep on drinking.    
THE WATER WHO WAS, IS, AND EVERMORE SHALL BE
This same principle holds true when it comes to hydrating ourselves in the physical, doesn’t it?
You see, how much fluid we need depends on several things – our body weight, the temperature wherever we are exercising, the intensity of the workout, etc. So while everyone is different, these general guidelines should keep you and I hydrated as we work out:
Before our workout – Pre-hydration is important to keep our fluid levels in balance as we exercise. It’s recommended that we drink between 16 to 20 ounces of water two to three hours before our workout, and then eight to 10 ounces within a half-hour prior.  I’ve seen the importance of this because if you don’t properly hydrate well in advance, cramping and other symptoms of dehydration can hit you before you know it and then you’re just simply trying to treat the dehydration after it’s too late. 
During our workout – They say that to replace lost fluids, we should drink between 7 to 10 ounces for every 20 minutes of exercise that we do. Rehydrating in the middle of exercising is absolutely vital for the quality of our current workout.
After our workout –  You could shed two quarts or more of fluid after a workout. To gain that fluid back, we are told to drink a minimum of eight ounces immediately following your workout. I’ve found that my body tends to continue sweating well after I exercise because my body heat is apparently still high. Therefore, it’s important for someone like myself to continue to drink plenty of water well after exercising.
So this pretty much sounds like we need to be sure to hydrate ourselves at all times, right? At the beginning of the day, in the middle of the day, and at the end of the day.
Well, Jesus is called the One was “was, is, and evermore shall be” right? He’s the same yesterday, today, and forevermore, huh? Then it shouldn’t surprise us that he is important for us in the morning, during the day, and in the evening.
Now the pre-workout from a spiritual standpoint would be maybe the time we spend with Him first thing in the morning – before our day even gets started. King David said, “Early in the morning, I will seek you” (See Psalm 63:1).
This is what many consider to be the best time to drink from that well because when we give God the first fruits of our day, we are showing that He is our priority. And when we spiritually hydrate ourselves first thing, we can tackle our day with more spiritual energy.
Then during the workout part of hydration would be that constant communication aspect of a relationship. What I’m referring to is the day in and day out part of our spiritual exercise where we must learn to remember Him through the hustle & bustle of life.
You see, just as it’s easy to get so wrapped up in our exercise routine and to forget to take a swig of that water from time to time, it’s easy to get wrapped up in our everyday lives and doing the “work of the ministry” and forget the importance of our personal relationship with Him.
And finally, the after the workout part of hydrating would be maybe closing our day drinking from the waters of life. This might be spending a few minutes in prayer before we get in the bed or reading the Bible just before we go to sleep. This time is also important because if we don’t fill our minds with Him at the end of the day, it can actually affect how well we rest at night. 
So there’s never a part of the day that drinking from the waters that He provides isn’t important. Amen? It’s Jesus in the morning, Jesus in the afternoon, and Jesus when the sun goes down! Jesus is a good idea all day long!
LEARNING TO GO TO THE WELL
 
Now John chapter 4 contains one of our best examples we have of Jesus being the source of our spiritual hydration. So let’s look at this story, beginning in verse 3 …
 
Our story starts in John 4:3-6 with – “He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.”
 
So I want you to notice that this story begins in Samaria at a well – namely, Jacob’s well.
So in verse 6, we see that Jesus became “wearied.” This word describes one becoming tired, exhausted, or fatigued.
 
Some might find this strange that Jesus, the Son of God, actually got tired and fatigued at times. Well, that’s just because people do not understand that He was not operating out of His divine power. No, He walked on this earth as a man, and as a physical man, Jesus would get exhausted at times like we all do. So, in this case, being wearied from His journey, Jesus needed some rest and some water. So John tells us that He “sat thus by the well.”
 
Here’s the lesson I see in this for us: It’s important that when we feel weary in this Christian journey that we learn to sit by the well. In fact, as we learned earlier – we don’t need to wait till we feel weary to drink from that well. Oftentimes, that is when it is too late. Visiting “Jacob’s well” is a good idea to do before, during, and after our spiritual exercise.
 
But my point is, just like we would never neglect stopping by the gas station to “fill’r up” or plugging our device in to recharge the battery, we need to know that learning to sit by the well and have a drink is how we recharge our spiritual battery and fill our spiritual tank up. If we neglect doing this, we will most certainly run out of gas and not have the power to do what the Lord has called us to.
 
JACOB’S WELL VS. JESUS’ WELL
 
So as Jesus stopped at this “gas station,” another person entered this story:
 
John 4:7-15 goes on to tell us, “A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink.’ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, ‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?’ For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?’ Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.’ The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.’ ”
 
So here we have the meat of the story – Jesus revealing to this woman that He had water to give that the water of Jacob’s well could not hold a candle to.
 
We see this Samaritan woman coming to draw water from the well where Jesus was resting. So because of the racial & religious prejudices of their day, when Jesus asked her to give Him a drink, she was floored that a Jew would ask a drink from a Samaritan woman.
 
You see, we need to understand that the Lord does not pay attention to the outward appearance like we do. He looks at heart and is willing to drink from or pour through any cup, no matter what color that cup is. We would be wise that if we were in a desert and were thirsty not to say, “I don’t drink from black cups” or “I don’t drink from white cups” or “I don’t drink from pink cups.” If you are thirsty, it would behoove you to drink from whatever cup is available. If He chooses to use a Jew or a Gentile, a male or a female, a barbarian or a Scythian, we drink from that cup! Amen!
 
So Jesus steered her prejudiced attitude away from who she was and who He was after the flesh and told her that if she knew the gift of God who was before her and would ask, He would give her living water.
 
Of course, she didn’t know what He was referring to because her mind immediately went to the fact that Jesus had nothing to draw water from Jacob’s well with. In other words, she thought that the water He was saying that He would give her was coming from a similar source like Jacob’s well. But we know that Jesus was referring to Himself! So might we say that Jesus was saying that He has His own well – Jesus’ well? – and that well contains living water.
 
She asked Jesus – “Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” And the obvious answer to that question is – Yeah! He absolutely is greater than the Patriarch, Jacob, being the One who outwrestled him. So yes, Jesus’ well is certainly greater than Jacob’s well!
 
Now wells are repeatedly seen in Scripture as places of provision, and not just of the water that the well possesses but other things: A couple of examples of this are the story of Abraham’s servant discovering Rebekah for Isaac at a well (See Genesis chapter 24) and the story of Moses when settling in the land of Midian, when he sat by a well and there met the seven daughters of priest of Midian which included his future wife.
 
So we can see that special relationships were provided at these various wells. And that is what I believe Jesus was trying to point this Samaritan woman towards – that He is that relationship that she had spent a good portion of her life searching for. This will be a theme that is echoed here at Jacob’s well.
 
ABSOLUTELY SATISFIED
 
So Jesus’ response to her question is so profound. He tells this woman (and us as well) – “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
 
So what Jesus was saying here is that when we come to Him and drink the water that He has to offer, we will never thirst again. Why? Because of what it will do in us – providing a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.
 
You see, people do not realize it, but a lot of the habitual practices in our lives are a result of a thirst that is always in search of being satisfied. People turn to all kinds of things to satisfy their thirst, but the truth is – only Jesus can satisfy that thirst! Only our personal connection with Him can fill us up and make us satisfied and content.
 
I like to look at it this way: Every one of us has been created like a puzzle, and there is one large piece right in the middle of us (our heart) that only one thing will fit. And that one missing piece can only be fulfilled by Jesus Christ!
 
You see, the world tries to cram everything from sex, drugs, success, and family into that void, but none of those things can totally fulfill them. Sure, they might have some temporary happiness when they gratify those lusts or desires for natural things, but it does not bring them that everlasting contentment that I am talking about.
 
But this is not just true for the world! Even believers can digress in their Christian walk to where they attempt to satisfy themselves with the things of this world instead of through their personal relationship with the Lord. I am not saying that they have lost their relationship with Jesus altogether; I am just saying that we can walk in the flesh like the world, and when we do, our desires will be for natural and carnal things above spiritual things. In other words, when we walk in the flesh we will try and fulfill ourselves through relationships, recreational activities, financial success, etc.
 
You see, when we are abiding in Christ, and He in us, the ups and downs of this life will not dictate our joy and peace. We will not feel like we have to have something more or something better to be happy because we know that we are right in the middle of God’s perfect will for our lives which is, in communion with Him!
 
An example I can use from my own life is with relationships: During the times where I have walked in the flesh one of the main things that I tried to fulfill that void with was with other people. For example, when I was abiding in the Lord and He had preeminence in my heart I did not have to be on the phone talking to someone all the time. I did not have to be hanging out with my friends and family constantly. The reason was because my relationship with God was where it needed to be, so I was not trying to fulfill myself with the relationships of my friends and family. I was content in the acceptance and goodness of my Lord and did not need the acceptance of my friends, co-workers, and family. Not only that, but I was also content with my single life. I was not driven to find a girlfriend because my focus was on the Lord and not on the opposite sex. I was simply content with my relationship with the Lord and was willing to wait on the Lord to bring my wife to me!
 
Again, if Jesus is on the throne of your heart, you will not be dominated by these natural desires. Now, don’t misunderstand me! I am not saying that if you have desires for anything in this world other than the Lord that you are not abiding in Him. I am just saying that if you are fully abiding in Him then those desires for something you do not already have will not dictate your joy and peace, and will not drive you. They will not cause you to feel discontent when you are not experiencing fulfillment in those areas. You will not be bent on finding fulfillment through natural things. You will simply be satisfied with Jesus! Nothing more and nothing less!
 
The Scriptures have a lot to say about this principle but let me share with you one very powerful passage that echoes what the Holy Spirit is teaching us today – Psalm 36:8-9.
 
In the beginning of verse 8, David says, “They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of your house...” The “they” being referred to are the ones that draw near to God in faith (See verse 7). And what does he say is the benefit of drawing near to Him? They are “abundantly satisfied with the fullness of God’s house!” You see, in the Old Testament the “house of God” was symbolic of the “presence of God.” So the way David says that we become abundantly satisfied (i.e. content) is by abiding in the fullness of God’s “presence.”
 
In Psalm 16:11 David put it this way – “In Your presence is fullness of joy.” If you want to be full of joy and abundantly satisfied, then learn to abide in the fullness of God’s presence! You could say, “The more of His presence you are abiding in, the more content and satisfied you will be!” There is no substitute for His presence! It brings fullness of joy, peace, contentment, and satisfaction! The only reason (yes, I say that as an absolute) that we ever become discontent is because we are not drawing our strength for that contentment from the presence of Christ. If we ever feel like we “need” anything other than Christ, then we are showing signs of this discontent condition that we have discussed. 
 
The rest of verse 8 says, “And you give them drink from the river of your pleasures.” You see, true satisfaction comes from nothing else but being close to Lord, drinking from His well of salvation. He alone can satisfy our deepest needs, not a spouse, a job, or a hobby just as water is the only thing that can satisfy us when we truly thirst. There is no substitute for Christ like there is no substitute for water!
 
Then notice what verse 9 says- “For with You is the fountain of life; In your light we see light.” David goes on to say that it is only being with Him (i.e. in His presence) that you can experience the fountain of life – that is, the life of God continuously flowing through your very being making you satisfied and content. He also said that in His light (i.e. “in His presence” – because God is light) we see light. In other words, when we are in His presence, we can see more clearly. Our perspective will change. The things we used to think were important and that we had to have will no longer be our focus. We will be able to see what is important with an unclouded perspective and realize that all we need is the Lord in our life. We do not need anything or anybody; all we need is Jesus! He is the secret to being completely content and abundantly satisfied!
 
So our lesson is this – Learn to draw your strength and satisfaction from pursuing a relationship with Christ! Know that if you ever feel you have to have anything other than His presence and those wanton desires are causing you to lose your joy and peace, you need to check the condition of your fellowship with Him. Plug into your power source through spending time with the Lord and watch how abundantly satisfied you become.
 
Church, this is how we quench that thirsting that’s in our heart. It’s by learning to come to Jesus and drinking from the waters that only He has to satisfy our heart. Amen?  
 
BROKEN CISTERNS
 
So Jesus’ words about never thirsting again sounded like a pretty good deal to this Samaritan woman, right? Therefore, she responded in verse 15 with – “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
 
And then Jesus responds with something rather interesting – Jesus says in verse 16, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” And, of course, this prompts the whole conversation of whether she currently had a husband and how many husbands she had had (See John 4:16-19).
 
Now a lot of times, we make the mistake of thinking this story changed gears here when Jesus went from this conversation of having this living water to addressing this woman’s marriage history. But what we need to understand here is, Jesus was showing this woman by the fruit of her life how she needs this water so that she will not thirst again.
 
You see, as we’ve alluded to already, some people turn to all kinds of natural things to satisfy that thirst. This Samaritan woman had obviously tried to satisfy that thirst with men. Yes, she was looking for her contentment and happiness in a relationship with the opposite sex. And this resulted in what? Five failed marriages!
 
Now I understand that there are several legitimate reasons for divorce like unfaithfulness, abuse, etc. but if we were being honest, those are not the number one reason for failed marriages. No, we don’t need a national survey to tell us that the number one cause of divorce is this very thing – people looking for happiness, contentment, and satisfaction in their spouse when the only way to fulfill that thirst is in Christ alone. In other words, countless men & women are looking for a spouse to do for them what only Christ can do for them.     
 
You see, this is what the Bible refers to as “broken cisterns” …
 
In Jeremiah 2:13 the Lord revealed such an important truth for us to understand- particularly regarding where we put our expectations. He said, “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns- broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
 
You see, in Bible times, a cistern was an artificial reservoir that was dug into the earth or carved into rock for collecting and storing water. Israel has a long dry season with relatively few natural springs, so catching winter rain in cisterns was very important. Fresh water was extremely valuable, so a broken cistern was practically worthless. Cracked rock or crumbling masonry could hold only a small amount of dirty water – or maybe no water at all. 
 
But while constructing an artificial spiritual reservoir was bad enough, rejecting water from the life-giving Spring was tragic! Imagine a very thirsty person in a parched land, ignoring a bubbling spring of cool water, only to hack out a cistern in the blazing sun hoping to collect some rainwater!
 
Without a natural spring nearby, a cistern would be the best thing you could do. If you were unaware of a nearby spring, at least you could be pitied for your diligent efforts to try to collect some water. But if you did know that there was a fresh spring available, and you deliberately turned your back to build a cistern, you’d be incredibly foolish. 
 
So God’s case against Israel in Jeremiah chapter 2 was that they had forsaken their God in favor of other gods. He said that this was unprecedented, even amongst other nations (vs.11). But before we are quick to condemn Israel, we need to understand that we do this same thing all the time …
 
Now while most of us do not consciously reject Him and choose other gods to worship, we still do this through our actions. We choose “cisterns” that are broken and are unable to hold water in an attempt to obtain satisfaction and meet our needs when they simply cannot. These broken cisterns can be anything from relationships, hobbies, careers, possessions - namely, anything natural that we put first in our lives and put our hope in. When we do this, we will find that none of these things can truly satisfy us or give us joy.
 
The 17th chapter of Jeremiah tells us that we are cursed when we make flesh our strength and when our trust is in man. It also says that when our heart departs from the Lord like this, we become like a shrub in the desert that is never satisfied (vs.5-6). On the other hand, verses 7-8 say that when we trust in the Lord and our hope is in Him we are like a tree whose roots will be spread out by the river where there is a constant flow of water both to keep our leaves green and to provide a continuous harvest of fruit. And verse 13 goes on to say that God is that fountain of living waters - identifying Him the same way as Jeremiah 2:13.      
 
So when our hope is in the Lord, we are looking to Him to meet our needs; we are placing all of our expectancy in Him and not in other people or things. You see, when our hope is in these other things, we are looking to them to draw our happiness, contentment, satisfaction, and strength from. We do not consciously know we are doing this, but we are actually making these things “idols” because we are putting our hope in these things rather than in the One True and Living God.
 
But the good news is found in Isaiah 55:1-2: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.”
 
In these verses, the Lord is proclaiming the gospel to us! He is telling us that if we want to be truly satisfied and fulfilled, just come to Him! If we want our soul to delight itself in abundance, just draw near to Him! This abundant satisfaction for our souls is free! It is freely available by grace! All we need to do is to turn our lives fully over to Him and make Him our all in all.
 
Now He basically asks the question in verse 2 – Why do we spend money on things that do not satisfy when He, the fountain of living waters, is free? But we do this all of the time, don’t we? We spend all kinds of money, time, and energy on these broken cisterns that could never hold water in the first place! Sure, they might temporarily seem able to hold water, but eventually that water will drain out of those cracks, and we will thirst again.
 
This can certainly be reflected in what we choose to drink when exercising, can’t it? I’ve even seen that when some people are out doing some arduous physical exercise or are working outside, that they will choose to hydrate themselves with sodas, coffee, etc.
 
I for one, didn’t realize for a long time that when I would go out and sweat profusely, that it wasn’t always best to simply drink water because our bodies tend towards just sweating it out and it doesn’t have the opportunity to truly rehydrate our bodies. That’s why they say that we need electrolytes in what we drink so that our bodies can properly assimilate what it needs to rehydrate.
 
So, I see this as practically important with spiritual things because how many people out there are thirsty spiritually but are turning to all kinds of other things to satisfy that thirst? Yes, we turn to all kinds of things to satisfy that spiritual thirst that only the LORD Himself can satisfy.
 
In fact, I’ve seen one of the greatest keys to weight loss being the simple decision to change what we drink. Things like carbonated drinks that contain a lot of sugar seem to just swell us up as bad as anything that we eat.
 
Friends, it is time we truly understand that God is the fountain of living waters and turn to Him for our joy, satisfaction, and contentment! His is an unending flow of life-giving water as opposed to those man-made cisterns that only temporarily hold water! Let’s go to the source of that living water today – that river whose streams shall make glad the city of God (Psalm 46:4)!

REVIEW
 
So currently, we are learning how to get spiritually fit – understanding that the way that we get in shape physically is the same way we get in shape spiritually. Yes, we have to eat right and we have to exercise properly, and in so doing we can develop our inner man like we can our outward man.
 
We’ve seen this in First Timothy 4:6-8 where the apostle Paul makes the comparison between physical nutrition & exercise and spiritual nutrition & exercise. These verses say, “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
 
Therefore, if we want to become good servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are going to have to do two things: We have to be properly “nourished” and we have to “exercise” ourselves toward godliness. No, not physically; we are talking about doing these things spiritually.
 
But what we have learned is that in order to get spiritually fit, we have to first become spiritual – and this is being born again. So we looked at the various Scriptures where being born again is described and saw how it is a literal transformation that takes place in the spirit where the Holy Spirit impregnates us with the Father’s seed, and we become a new creation in Christ Jesus. Then, and only then, are we able to grow up and become fit spiritually.
 
Which we then looked at in part two – We learned that once we get born again, we then have to grow up spiritually and become mature Christians. We learned that just because one is born, that doesn’t automatically mean that they can develop like an adult can. No, even though a baby is born with all of the bones and muscles that it is ever going to have, the child has to grow up and mature physically in order to unlock their full potential in fitness.
 
So we looked at what the signs of spiritual infancy / immaturity are, and how one grows up in their salvation – because again, we have to be mature in the Spirit in order to truly get in shape spiritually.
 
 
So last week we learned, once we’ve been born again and have grown up a little spiritually, what the first thing someone who desires to start exercising to get in shape needs to do. And we saw that a lot of physical fitness experts will tell you that the first step to getting in shape physically starts right between the ears. In other words, it is cultivating the right attitude and mentality that goes into getting in shape.
 
I explained that one thing I remember hearing my wife, Shannon, (who has a degree in health & fitness, mind you) say, is that if someone who has decided to start working out can just “get to the door” of the gym, they have overcome the first obstacle.
 
Anyone here who has either endeavored to get in shape or allowed themselves to get out of shape will tell you that there is a lot in this flesh that will try to keep us from going to the gym. It’ll try to convince you and I that it’s too tired, it doesn’t have the energy, it was a hard day at work, it doesn’t want to roll out of bed, etc., etc., etc.
 
But we saw that just as consistent as those obstacles are, is the following statement people make who press through and exercise anyway when they didn’t feel like it: They will say, “Man, I’m so glad I went to work out today! I feel so much better!” And I told y’all that I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard something similar right here – People tell me all the time about how they were tempted to not come to church, but they pushed through and came anyway. And when they left, they told me – “Pastor, that service was just for me! I needed to hear what you had to say.”
 
So when it comes to working out spiritually, the lesson I learn from this is we have to overcome the flesh’s tendency to try and talk us out of doing what we need to do and what’s best for us – and this all starts between the ears, right?
 
You see, there is a war on the inside of us—flesh versus spirit. It is the nature of God against the nature of Satan. Yes, it is Isaac versus Ishmael; Jacob versus Esau; Cain versus Abel. It’s brother against brother. And through this battle on the inside of us we are doomed to live a roller coaster Christianity if we do not learn to live by the spirit, which comes through developing our spiritual nature to where it runs the show.
 
But what we specifically learned last week is that there is a third party within us. No, we are not just a spirit and a body. We also have a soul, and the soul is the middleman in this. In fact, we saw him as the arbitrator in this constant battle for control.
 
So we learned that whichever part of us can convince the soul to team up with it is the part of us that will win. So, if the flesh is persuasive enough saying, “Hey soul, let’s take this path right here. It is best for us and it’s easier. Come on, let’s go this way …” and then the soul obliges by thinking in that direction, that is the path your life is certain to take. But, on the other hand, if the spirit man can convince the soul to go the other direction – by getting the soul to think like it thinks – then the spirit and the soul will override the lusts of the flesh.
 
So we learned that that’s why the attitude & mentality that we possess is the first and most important variable – because this victory in becoming spiritually fit begins with the soul. That’s when we have to just “get to the door” – that is, decide that we are going to do what we need to do more than what we want to do. And once you and I press through the adversity & struggle of our flesh and do the right thing, it’ll start getting easier.
 
Then last time, we looked at another mentality that we need to have when it comes to getting in shape, and that is the importance of not despising the day of small beginnings.
 
You see, what the professionals say is that one of the pitfalls of successful exercise is that people try to do too much too quickly. In other words, while they want the results that they see in others like people running marathons or pumping a lot of iron, they don’t have the patience or work ethic to build up to that place. Sure, they might want to possess that tone, fit body or those huge pecs & biceps, but pressing through the time of building the body up to that place is where most fall short.
 
You see, it’s tempting to wait for a burst of motivation or the “perfect moment” to tackle everything at once. But this mindset often leaves us overwhelmed or stuck in a cycle of procrastination. Therefore, starting small works because it’s achievable, and it builds momentum.
 
Think about it like pushing a heavy boulder. The first push is the hardest, but once it’s moving, the effort becomes easier. Tiny steps—like tidying a single shelf, setting a 5-minute timer to journal, or taking a short walk—are those first pushes. They’re manageable actions that remind you that progress is possible.
 
Small wins also give you a sense of accomplishment. They release dopamine, the “feel-good” chemical, which motivates you to keep going. This is how one tiny shift today can snowball into meaningful growth tomorrow.
 
This is when they say that starting small is a key to getting the ball rolling in the right direction. And when they say small, they are not just talking about lifting a small amount of weight at the gym or running on the treadmill for a couple of minutes. They are talking about figuring out how we can simply add movement to our regular activity. In other words, intentionally adding small things like simple movement to our day-to-day activity.
 
So what this has to do with exercising spiritually is that you can do the same with your spiritual exercises. I think a lot of people see what they can and should be, but they see it as too far off. So what does that do? It does the same thing we’ve seen that it does naturally; it zaps the motivation.
 
But what if there was that same “feel-good” chemical that is released spiritually when we start exercising spiritually? I think there is something similar that happens when we start taking small steps …
 
So we looked at one of my favorite chapters of the Bible – Zechariah chapter 4 – and we saw the LORD encouraging a man named Zerubbabel, who was called to rebuild the LORD’s temple, with the insurmountable mountain in front of him.
 
So we learned that having the right attitude is important when it comes to these small beginnings – because if you don’t have the correct mentality, you won’t make it from the small beginning to the desired outcome.
 
SETTING GOALS
 
So now that we have covered a couple of good mindsets & attitudes to have, like the importance of getting to the door and understanding the value of starting small, let’s look at one more thing that all the experts say is important when it comes to physical fitness – and that is, the importance of setting goals.
 
You see, there is power in setting goals. For one, it drastically improves your chance of reaching your desired outcome. This might sound rather obvious, but it might surprise you to hear that many people go to the gym or do other fitness activities with no real goal in mind, without any real objective.
 
But just think about it: With just about any task we do – whether simple or complex – there is usually a goal at the end of it. For example, some of us perform the simple task of writing a shopping list with the intention of buying those items because we need them. And we know whether we’ve been successful once we’ve checked them off the list. Without that list, it’s likely we might forget something and/or spend our time aimlessly wandering around the store which results in not achieving our goal.
 
And this same principle can certainly be applied to fitness: Having a goal and writing it down somewhere you can check it helps you to plan what you need to do to achieve it, so you don’t end up in the gym wandering around wondering what exercise to do.
 
On top of that, not having a goal also makes it hard to know what we’ve achieved or what we are trying to achieve. We might think we are doing all the right things, but in reality, we’re focusing too much time on one aspect of our fitness and not enough on another. So fitness goals are important as they help us to stay aligned and do the workouts we might skip if left to do it by memory or by what we feel like doing.
 
For example, if you don’t like leg days, sometimes it’s easy to forget the last time you did a leg strength session. Without a goal you might think, “I worked on my legs last week, that’s okay,” but in actuality, it was 2 weeks ago, and now you’ve neglected it again and your overall fitness has gotten out of balance.
 
However, if you regularly check your fitness goals, you’ll quickly realize that you’re not on target with leg strength like you are in other areas. Without your written fitness goals, you won’t notice it until your friends start making sarcastic comments about your chicken legs. LOL!
 
So this is why fitness goals are important – because they …

1. Keep you on track
2. Make working out efficient
3. Help you progress quickly
4. Help you notice progress
5. Keep you motivated

 
OUTCOME GOALS VS. PROCESS GOALS
 
But the following is something that I have learned is important when it comes to this topic of goal setting:
 
One of the best ways to stay committed to our long-term goals is to set some other kinds of goals. In fact, I’ve heard it recommended to not only set “outcome goals” but to also set “process goals.” Simply put, the outcome goals are the ultimate thing you want to achieve, and the process goals are the smaller steps you’ll implement in order to achieve those outcome goals.  
 
Outcome goals might read like bucket list items – naming what it is that you want to achieve. For example, outcome goals for these physical fitness things might be running a 10K, finishing a marathon in under a certain amount of time (or maybe just finishing it), losing 40 pounds, or benching 300 pounds.
 
But when you’re coming up with these outcome goals, you need to also implement process goals. These are the daily and weekly goals you are going to commit to in order to move you closer and closer to that outcome. So if your outcome goal is to simply lose weight, your process goals might be something like walking 8,000 steps per day, eating a protein-rich breakfast every day, or cutting your soda intake in half. Meanwhile, if you want to lift more weight, your process goals might include things like hitting the gym a certain number of days each week, doing a certain amount of reps each time of a specific weight, or having a post-workout protein shake every time.
 
You see, by having these specific process goals and adhering to them “religiously,” you will be more apt to reach your outcome goals.
 
Now along the lines of having these two types of goals is writing them down and journaling your progress. Writing down your workouts may sound tedious, but doing it is a great way to stay motivated, as well as to tangibly measure how far you’ve come.
 
Not only can writing down your workout feel as rewarding as checking off an item on your to-do list, but it also gives you a way to track your progress. When you record your workouts, you give yourself a way to see how much progress you’ve actually made. Particularly after a rough day at the gym or a slower-than-wanted run, it can be helpful to go back and flip through all the workouts you’ve done, the miles you’ve logged, and the weights you’ve lifted.
 
In addition to writing down what you did at the gym, it is also recommended that you record the more nuanced tidbits about your workout, like your mood and energy levels during the workout, your confidence level that day, or how easy or hard the workout felt.
 
So write both types of goals down somewhere. When you have a detailed plan written down, you are more likely to follow through with it. Then, once it’s written down, assess how confident you feel that you can achieve your outcome with the process goals you can realistically implement. These experts say that on a scale of 1 to 10, you want to be at least 80% confident that you can achieve your outcome goal. Why? Because when you are confident, the motivation comes more easily.
 
SPIRITUAL GOAL SETTING
 
But while this is certainly good wisdom for physical fitness, we are not talking about physical fitness here, are we? We are looking at how to become spiritually fit, but I believe that the wisdom found in these natural things can be applied to exercising our inward man.  
 
So what would some outcome & process goals be towards our spiritual fitness? Well, it depends on how specific we want to get.
 
If we look at things on a smaller scale, some outcome goals for us might be things like having our love perfected, becoming more patient, having our joy full, seeing more consistent results in healings when we pray for people, seeing more evidence of having what we say, etc.
 
So the process goals for each of these would be different, right? If, for instance, my outcome goal was to be more developed in patience, my process goal might be looking for those opportunities to be impatient and choosing to lift those weights by resisting the temptation to be impatient. In other words, I’m not just hoping I miraculously become more of a patient person, but I’m looking for those times where I’m tempted to be frustrated, irritated, and my emotions get all worked up, and then I view those as opportunities to pump some iron and exercise those patience muscles. Not everyone realizes this, but that is how you develop in patience – by exercising it when you don’t feel like it.
 
My point is that if it works this way with physical fitness, then you can be sure that it works this way with spiritual fitness. So having goals for our spiritual conditioning too is helpful so that we can track our progress and to keep ourselves encouraged & motivated.
 
THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF CHRISTIANITY
 
But let’s think “bigger picture” today. Let’s look at what the ultimate, long-term goal of Christianity really is. In other words, what should be the ultimate objective for every believer?
 
Well, I believe it is ultimately to win the prize of our heavenly reward and to be inducted into God’s Hall of Fame.
 
You might say, “I didn’t even know that the LORD has a Hall of Fame?” Well, it’s not like the HOF’s that we have on the earth today, but Hebrews chapter 11 chronicles the lives of men & women of God who did this by faith and did that by faith. Many who walked on this earth and excelled in the arena of faith up until the time of Jesus are mentioned as a memorial to their walk with the One True God.
 
Then chapter twelve begins with – “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us …” (Hebrews 12:1)
 
So the picture that the author painted was of us being competitors in a race, surrounded by the grandstands of heaven that are full of all those who have run a race of faith before us. And since we are the ones on the course right now, he gives us three exhortations for running our race in verse one alone.
 
The first exhortation I want us to look at is found in the last phrase of this verse – “let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” So it’s the necessity of running with endurance.
 
Now endurance is one of those very important New Testament virtues – that “won’t quit” persistent attitude. But how many of you know that in order for a runner to truly have endurance there are a couple of things that the runner must do. And these two things are what the writer of Hebrews lists before ever mentioning the race we are in and the endurance that we are to run it with. So what are these two things?
 
He said just before mentioning the race, “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us…” The words “lay aside” literally mean “to get rid of.” So there are two things that the writer of Hebrews mentions that we are to get rid of in order to successfully run our race with endurance.
 
You see, if a runner has a lot of baggage on him while he is trying to run a race then he is going to have a harder time enduring to the end, right? So how come so many believers think that they are going to finish their course with so many encumbrances in their lives? No, the first thing we must do if we want to make this race we are running easier to endure is to “get rid of every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us.”     
 
First of all, let’s look at the word “weight”: This word “weight” literally means “bulk or mass.” Now there are two ways that you can look at this word… Number one, it could describe the clothing or other encumbrances that would hinder a runner in his or her race. Number two, it could also describe the excess “bulk or mass” on the runner himself. In other words, this word “weight” can also refer to him or her as being overweight and out of shape.
 
I personally believe the latter is what the writer of Hebrews had in mind here – that is, the extra weight on the body of the runner that would encumber the athlete from being agile and swift and cause him to not have endurance. What this admonition is referring to is that we must be in shape, not physically, but spiritually in order to effectively run our spiritual race with endurance. Being spiritually fit is such an important key to running our race effectively.
 
The next phrase that the author of Hebrews says is “and (lay aside) the sin which so easily ensnares us.” Again, the words “lay aside” literally mean “to get rid of” and we have already seen that we are to get rid of the weight that is hindering us. So what else are we to get rid of? He says, “and the sin which so easily ensnares us.” Notice that the writer does not say “the sins (plural)” but rather “the sin (singular).” You see, he was not referring to the specific and individual sins in our life, but he was referring to “sin in general” (i.e. the sin nature of the flesh).
 
You see, we are all clothed with this body and all of its weaknesses and limitations. And it is through this sinful body we are trapped in, that we do not arise to the full potential that God created us to live up to. Now I am not saying that this is the way that it should be, because God has given us all the grace that we need to live up to this potential. What I am saying, however, is that in reality, most believers have not mastered their flesh nature, and they allow it to usurp the authority some of the time.
 
It is for this reason that the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 4:22- “…put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts.” The truth is that our old man was crucified with Christ, but what so many Christians do is they continue to wear the same clothes that the old man left behind.  You see, when Paul used the term “put off” it literally meant to take off some sort of clothing. In other words, when he admonished his readers over and over again to “put off” this characteristic of the flesh and “put off” that characteristic of the flesh, what he was literally saying was “take off this piece of clothing” and “take off that piece of clothing.” You see, things like anger, wrath, bitterness, envy, and lying are all garments left behind by the old man, and we are admonished to take them off and get rid of them.
 
But why do we need to take them off? It is because of what Hebrews 12:1 says… “which so easily ensnares us.” The word “ensnare” means “to impede, hinder, or trip up.” So if we do not take off this sin, our running will be hindered. You see, if we try and run our race of faith while wearing all of these garments of the flesh, we will be tripped up time and time again and fall constantly, similarly to how a runner can constantly be tripped up if he is wearing too much clothing.
 
So we see in Hebrews 12:1 our long-term goal and the means of reaching it. Amen?
 
Ultimately, we see this outcome goal accomplished in the life of the apostle Paul in Second Timothy chapter 4 …
 
He said in verse 8 – “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not only me but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
 
This crown of righteousness that he spoke of is that prize that we are all running for. It’s the one that Paul said in First Corinthians 9:25 that we all are running for – that imperishable crown. 
 
But what did the apostle Paul say that He did in verse 7 to gain this crown of righteousness? He said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
 
So these were the things that he did throughout his ministry that led him to reach His outcome goal. So let’s talk a little further about the process goal that will lead us to our ultimate objective of receiving the reward and being inducted into God’s Hall of Fame.
 
THE GOAL ABOVE ALL GOALS
 
But I want to show you the greatest goal that will help up reach that long-term goal. I call it – the goal above all goals.
 
You see, we see in the Book of Philippians that the apostle Paul obviously believed in goals. In fact, we see that he lived his life for just one goal.
 
In Philippians 3:12-14 he said, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
 
So the apostle Paul starts out making sure that his readers were aware that he had not “arrived” (i.e. attained) or that he had already reached some elite level of spiritual maturity (i.e. perfected). In other words, he was saying that he wasn’t perfect. But he went on to make it clear that he was certainly “pressing” towards something. Yes, he said that there was just one thing that he was doing, and that was that he was “pursuing” (Lit. definition of “press”) after the goal of total spiritual maturity or perfection. He was chasing after this goal and after the prize that accompanied it!
 
So what was this goal? Paul said that it was laying hold of that for which Christ Jesus had also laid hold of him. What an interesting statement, huh? What was the “that” that he was pressing on to lay hold of? It was that for which Christ Jesus had also laid hold of him.
 
You know, when it comes to us getting saved, the church likes to say we found Jesus. But we say this like Jesus was the One who was lost. Jesus wasn’t the One who was lost; we were! Yes, Jesus found us, that pearl of great price! He found us, that treasure hidden in the field! So it would be more correct to say that Jesus found us, or might we say, “Jesus laid hold of us!” Jesus took us with His righteous right hand and now nothing can pluck out of His hand.
 
So the “that” that we are pursuing & pressing on to lay hold of is the One who already pursues and pressed on to lay hold of us. Amen! In other words, it’s about us fully grasping and taking hold of the Lord Jesus Christ! Paul called this in the next verse, the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
 
In verse 13, Paul reiterated that he hadn’t yet taken hold and apprehended Him fully yet, but he goes on to say, “but one thing I do …” Notice he didn’t say, “but two, three, or five things I do.” No, he said he only did just one thing. And what was that? It was forgetting those things which were behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. And Paul made it clear in the context here that the thing he was pursuing was Christ Himself – that is, knowing Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformed to His death (See verse 10).
 
So when you compare other Scriptures that talk about this “one thing,” you’ll discover what this was for Paul too.
 
Psalm 27:4 teaches us what made David the man after God’s own heart: It says that the one thing that he desired and pursued was to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of his life. And we know that this is talking about living in the LORD’s presence every day! So it’s being with Him. Amen?
 
Then in the Gospels (Luke 10:38-42), when Jesus was in Martha’s house teaching, we see that Martha got irritated with her sister because Mary only wanted to be with Jesus and not be troubled with the duties of being a host. Well, Jesus said that there was only one thing that was needed in that moment and Mary had chosen that good part. And what was that? It was being in Jesus’ presence! Amen!
 
So the Scriptures make it clear that the “one thing” is being with the One Lord! Amen! So when Paul says that this is the one thing that he did, we can assume that this was also being in the presence of the Lord too. In fact, it was fully being with Him and identifying with Christ in every way. Glory!  
 
Then he goes on to say in verse 14 that he pressed toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus! And we just saw that this upward call is getting ahold of Christ in our life like He got ahold of us – that is, gaining Christ, knowing Christ, and becoming Christ in our everyday life!
 
And notice that the apostle Paul called it the “goal.” Church, I believe this describes the biggie – that goal above every other goal.
 
You see, as we consider some goals that we can have as children of God, I want you to know that I am specifically going to look at the big goals (i.e. the overarching, main goals). You can feel free to break these down into more specific goals, but in my humble opinion, all our goals should come through this “one thing” that we are looking at today.
 
And the first goal is the main goal. In fact, the rest of what we will look at actually fall under this oh so important target of the born again, Spirit-filled child of God. And that goal is this – TO BE JUST LIKE JESUS!
 
Now when I say to be just like Jesus, that statement requires some explanation:
 
For one, if you have been born again, your spirit is already just like Jesus. Yes, as we’ve learned already, you have been born of your Heavenly Father’s seed and possess the divine nature in your inward man. Amen! That’s the gospel!
 
But like we’ve learned, just because you’ve been born again and possess His holiness, righteousness, love, joy, peace, etc., doesn’t mean that you’ve developed those spiritual blessings & virtues. Yes, like a baby has to grow up and mature physically, we likewise, have to grow up and mature spiritually (which we’ve already learned).
 
So when I say, “to be just like Jesus,” I’m not referring to the new birth; I am referring to what Jesus Himself chose to develop in. Yes, He worked out His salvation and this caused Him to walk in the Spirit, producing all kinds of spiritual fruit and spiritual gifts. Amen!
 
That’s what I’m referring to when I say to be like Him – to love people the way He loved them, to do good like He did, and to destroy the works of the devil like He was known for. This is the bullseye! This is the mark! And it should be our goal as Christians!    
 
TO BE JUST LIKE JESUS
 
So if that’s the case (and it most certainly is!), then let’s look at what made Christ the way that He was so that we can know specifically what we are to pursue about Him.
 
Philippians chapter 2 teaches us this very thing. Yes, this chapter instructs us to let this mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus. That’s just a fancy way of saying, “Have the same attitude & mentality that Jesus had” or you could just simply say, “Think like Jesus thought.”
 
In essence, what he was saying was – “This lifestyle of esteeming others better than yourself and looking out for the interests of others more than your own was the way Christ lived. Therefore, learn to think like He thought and adopt His mentality” (See Philippians 2:3-5).
 
So we learn a couple of things from Philippians 2:5:

1. We learn that Jesus had a certain way of thinking. Yes, He possessed a certain mindset and lived His life from this mentality.
2. We also learn that we are to adopt His way of thinking and to think like He thought.

 
So a good question is – What was His mentality? Well, we don’t have to speculate because the following verses teach us how He thought about things because all we have to do is look at verses 6-8 to see what was on His mind … 
 
In verse 6, the apostle Paul begins to describe Jesus’ attitude by saying, “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.” 
 
Now by describing Jesus as being in the “form of God,” Paul was showing his readers that Jesus was, at this point, the very nature and essence of God Himself. But even though He possessed this divine nature in heaven, Paul goes on to tell us that He “did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.” Now this phrase does not translate well into our modern language. What the original language literally meant is that Jesus did not consider His equality with God (i.e. being in the form of God) as something to be held onto. In other words, as verse 7 goes on to say, even though Jesus was by nature the Second Person in the Trinity, He was willing to lower Himself to the place of having no “reputation.” Again, this is another somewhat vague translation. What this means is that because Jesus was willing to lay aside His divine nature, He “set aside all of His divine privileges.” In other words, even though He never ceased being God, He willingly laid aside His divinity and became 100% in the likeness of men. Yes, He willingly adopted the nature of mankind, even to the extent of becoming a bondservant to those He created. Now, saints, that is seriously laying down one’s life right there! Amen? 
 
Now Hebrews 12:2 gives us a little more insight into the mind of Christ …
 
This is where we are told that Jesus is the One that we are to be “looking unto.” Now when the writers of Hebrews say, “looking unto Jesus,” it literally means that we are looking away from everything else and only unto Jesus – meaning, Jesus is the best & most perfect example of a walk of faith from beginning to end that we have.
 
That’s why they go on to describe Jesus as “the author and finisher of our faith.” The word “our” there is not in the original language, so this verse literally describes Jesus as the originator and the perfector of faith. In other words, Jesus walked by faith perfectly from beginning to end. Amen!
 
And why? What helped him to walk in this flawless faith? It was because of what was said next … “who for the joy that was set before Him …”
 
Now most have interpreted that phrase as saying that there was a joy that was set before Him like a carrot and that is what He was looking at as He did the will of His Father. But I don’t believe that’s what was being said here. No, the word “for” here comes from the Greek word anti, so that describes “in exchange for the joy that was set before Him.” In other words, the joy that was set before Christ was what Philippians 2:6 was describing – it was the joys that He had as being in the form of God and being present in heaven as God Himself.
 
So because of the way He thought, Hebrews 12:2 says that He endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
 
You see, church, what I am describing to you is the ultimate goal of Christianity! It is to die to ourselves, to lay down our lives, and to truly live for Him.
 
The “despising” of the shame shows us that He didn’t place any value to the shame involved in His life & ministry, ultimately climaxing on the Cross. In other words, Jesus didn’t place any value on what He endured. He only valued what His goal was – which was to do the will of His Father and drink from the cup that His Father gave Him to drink from.
                              
So this is how our Lord & Savior thought, saints! This is the perspective He had, and it was ultimately what led to him to receiving the reward that He did, and that Philippians chapter 2 explains – Him being given the Name which is above every other Name and receiving the greatest reward at the right hand of God. Might we say that Jesus received the name above every name because He pursued the goal above every goal. Amen!
 
This is why I call being like Jesus the goal above every goal – because if we learn to think like Jesus, act like Jesus, talk like Jesus, etc., we will receive the end of our faith and that crown of righteousness at the finish line. Amen! 

REVIEW
 
So currently, we are learning how to get spiritually fit – understanding that the same way that we get in shape physically is the same way we get in shape spiritually. Yes, we have to eat right and we have to exercise properly, and in so doing we can develop our inner man like we can our outward man.
 
We’ve seen this in First Timothy 4:6-8 where the apostle Paul makes the comparison between physical nutrition & exercise and spiritual nutrition & exercise. These verses say, “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
 
Therefore, if we want to become good servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are going to have to do two things: We have to be properly “nourished” and we have to “exercise” ourselves toward godliness. No, not physically; we are talking about doing these things spiritually.
 
But what we have learned is that in order to get spiritually fit, we have to first become spiritual – and this is being born again. So we looked at the various Scriptures where being born again is described and saw how it is a literal transformation that takes place in the spirit where the Holy Spirit impregnates us with the Father’s seed, and we become a new creation in Christ Jesus. Then, and only then, are we able to grow up and become fit spiritually.
 
Which we then looked at in part two – We learned that once we get born again, we then have to grow up spiritually and become mature Christians. We learned that just because one is born, that doesn’t automatically mean that they can develop like an adult can. No, even though a baby is born with all of the bones and muscles that it is ever going to have, the child has to grow up and mature physically in order to unlock their full potential in fitness.
 
So we looked at what are the signs of spiritual infancy / immaturity and how one grows up in their salvation – because again, we have to be mature in the Spirit in order to truly become in shape spiritually.
 
 
So last week we learned that once we’ve born again and have grown up a little spiritually, what the first thing someone who desires to start exercising and get in shape needs to do. And we saw that a lot of physical fitness experts will tell you that the first step to getting in shape physically starts right between the ears. In other words, it is cultivating the right attitude and mentality that goes into getting in shape.
 
I explained that one thing I remember hearing my wife, Shannon, say (who has a degree in health & fitness, mind you) is that if someone who has decided to start working out can just “get to the door” of the gym, they have overcome the first obstacle.
 
Anyone here who has either endeavored to get in shape or allowed themselves to get out of shape will tell you that there is a lot in this flesh that will try to keep us from going to the gym. It’ll try to convince you and I that it’s too tired, it doesn’t have the energy, it was a hard day at work, it doesn’t want to roll out of bed, etc., etc., etc.
 
But we saw that just as consistent as those obstacles are, is the following statement people make who press through and exercise anyways when they didn’t feel like it: They will say, “Man, I’m so glad I went to work out today! I feel so much better!” And I told y’all that I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard something similar right here – People tell me all the time about how they were tempted to not come to church, but they pushed through and came anyway. And when they left, they told me – “Pastor, that service was just for me! I needed to hear what you had to say.”
 
So when it comes to working out spiritually, the lesson I learn from this is we have to overcome the flesh’s tendency to try and talk us out of doing what we need to do and what’s best for us – and this all starts between the ears, right?
 
You see, there is a war on the inside of us—flesh versus spirit. It is the nature of God against the nature of Satan. Yes, it is Isaac versus Ishmael; Jacob versus Esau; Cain versus Abel. It’s brother against brother. And through this battle on the inside of us we are doomed to live a roller coaster Christianity if we do not learn to live by the spirit, which comes through developing our spiritual nature to where it runs the show.
 
But what we specifically learned last week is that there is a third party within us. No, we are not just a spirit and a body. We also have a soul, and the soul is the middle-man in this. In fact, we saw him as the arbitrator in this constant battle for control.
 
So we learned that whichever part of us can convince the soul to team up with it is the part of us that will win. So, if the flesh is persuasive enough saying, “Hey soul, let’s take this path right here. It is best for us and it’s easier. Come on, let’s go this way …” and then the soul obliges by thinking in that direction, that is the path your life is certain to take. But, on the other hand, if the spirit man can convince the soul to go the other direction – by getting the soul to think like it thinks – then the spirit and the soul will override the lusts of the flesh.
 
So we learned that that’s why the attitude & mentality that we possess is the first and most important variable – because this victory in becoming spiritually fit begins with the soul. That’s when we have to just “get to the door” – that is, decide that we are going to do what we need to do more than what we want to do. And once you and I press through the adversity & struggle of our flesh and do the right thing, it’ll start getting easier.
 
STARTING SMALL
 
So let’s look at some other attitudes that are important to adopt in the soul when it comes to physical fitness because in learning about good mentalities to have for getting physically fit, we can learn good mindsets to have regarding getting spiritually fit … 
 
So now that we’ve entered the door of the gym, what do we do next? You see, it can be quite intimidating to see all of the equipment, causing us to become overwhelmed as we are getting started.  
 
Well, this is when those that seem to be somewhat among them (I speak concerning the so-called health & fitness experts of this world) will tell you another very important mindset to have – and that is, you have to start small.
 
You see, inside a lot of gyms are men & women who have been working out for a long time. These “gym rats” have been religiously going through their exercise routine for so long and it is evident when you look at them. Well, that also can be discouraging because it’s hard for us to see how we can ever get to that point ourselves with our current condition.
 
Do you think this might happen in church too? There are some who have been at this for a long time and they have obviously applied themselves to growing spiritually, so now they appear to be strong in faith, they know how to love others well, and their knowledge of God seems to be well beyond others.
 
Well, that too can be intimidating for some of us. So in both of these instances whether it’s at the gym or at church, we need to remember – no one got to where they are now overnight! No, everyone had to start somewhere.
 
So while the world likes to say, “Go big or go home!”, in this case, we might better say, “You better go small, or you will go home.
 
This is why it’s important that we learn to start small as the experts tell us …  
 
You see, what these professionals say is that one of the pitfalls of successful exercise is that people try to do too much too quickly. In other words, while they want the results that they see in others like people running marathons or pumping a lot of iron, they don’t have the patience or work ethic to build up to that place. Sure, they might want to possess that tone, fit body or those huge pecs & biceps, but pressing through the time of building the body up to that place is where most fall short.
 
You see, it’s tempting to wait for a burst of motivation or the “perfect moment” to tackle everything at once. But this mindset often leaves us overwhelmed or stuck in a cycle of procrastination. Therefore, starting small works because it’s achievable, and it builds momentum.
 
Think about it like pushing a heavy boulder. The first push is the hardest, but once it’s moving, the effort becomes easier. Tiny steps—like tidying a single shelf, setting a 5-minute timer to journal, or taking a short walk—are those first pushes. They’re manageable actions that remind you that progress is possible.
 
Small wins also give you a sense of accomplishment. They release dopamine, the “feel-good” chemical, which motivates you to keep going. This is how one tiny shift today can snowball into meaningful growth tomorrow.
 
This is when they say that starting small is a key to getting the ball rolling in the right direction. And when they say small, they are not just talking about lifting a small amount of weight at the gym or running on the treadmill for a couple of minutes. They are talking about figuring out how we can simply add movement to our regular activities. In other words, intentionally adding small things like simple movement to our day-to-day activity.
 
Here’s another reason small steps are effective: they eliminate the fear of failure. When the goal is tiny—like writing just one sentence instead of a whole chapter—you’re more likely to take action. Over time, these small actions compound into bigger results.
 
Here are some examples of how we can do this from the natural perspective:

• When you are on the phone, don’t just sit; stand and walk while you talk.
• Plan a little exercise routine like simply walking or stretching during your lunch break.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator/escalator when possible.

 
So what does all of this have to do with exercising spiritually? Well, you can do the same with your spiritual exercises. I think a lot of people see what they can and should be, but they see it as too far off. So what does that do? It does the same thing we’ve seen that it does naturally; it zaps the motivation.
 
So some things we can do to start small with spiritual things is maybe to:

• Instead of trying to read a chapter in your Bible every day, why not just read a verse. Yes, take one verse and meditate on it throughout the day. This is comparable to just adding some movement into our day-to-day activities.
• Instead of trying to love everyone you come in contact with, aim to find one person that you can sow goodness into each day. Once you experience that spiritual dopamine, it’ll inspire you to do more.
• Instead of trying to spend an hour with the LORD every morning, why not just give Him 5 minutes where you spend acknowledging Him and praising & worshiping Him.

 
It just takes a few steps in the right direction to start pushing that “boulder” to where you gain some spiritual momentum. But the key is not despising the day of small beginnings.
 
That sounds like a Scripture, doesn’t it? So let’s look at the chapter that this truth is found in and learn some more about this good mindset to possess when it comes to getting spiritually fit.
 
REBUILDING THIS TEMPLE
 
In one of my favorite chapters of the Old Testament – Zechariah chapter 4 – we see the LORD encouraging a man named Zerubbabel, who was called to rebuild the LORD’s temple.
 
But what I see in this prophecy is a very detailed description of the mentality that one who desires to accomplish any monumental feat must possess. In other words, this chapter shows us the right attitude to have when it comes to building or rebuilding anything for the LORD.   
 
In fact, it was the Temple of God that he was called to rebuild, correct? So what is the Temple of God according to the New Testament? What did it symbolize? Well, First Corinthians 6:19 says, “… do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you …”
 
So today, God’s temple is not made with hands. It was built & created by God. And God has chosen to inhabit this flesh & blood body as His Temple.
 
So as we consider this very example in Zechariah chapter 4 of the rebuilding / reconstruction of the Temple of God, I don’t think it’s too far-fetched for us to compare this to glorifying God in our bodies through both spiritual & physical exercise and nutrition. Right?
 
So let’s look at this prophecy in detail and learn what the right attitude is as we decide to exercise our spiritual temple and glorify God in both our spirit and body. And what we will find in this prophecy is the beginning process of building / rebuilding the LORD’s temple and how our small beginnings in doing so are to be handled correctly.
 
So let’s begin at the beginning of this chapter and learn some good, healthy mentalities to have as we are starting out in getting in shape spiritually.
 
WAKE UP AND LOOK UP
 
Now in verse one, it starts out by saying, “Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep.”
 
Now this goes back to the point we made last week of how we have to press through the flesh’s tendency to keep us from doing the right thing, doesn’t it? Yes, sleeping through the chance to exercise and develop ourselves spiritually is always something that we need to “wake up” from.
 
We see this communicated by the apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 5 as he exhorts us, as children of light, to walk in the light we possess. Then he goes on to say that we need to arise from the dead and let Christ give us this light. This proves that even though we are spiritually alive, we can appear as though we are dead by simply being spiritually asleep. Paul describes this as having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.
 
Then in verse two, we see the angel asking Zechariah a question – “And he said to me, ‘What do you see?’ So I said, ‘I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps.’ ”
 
So after waking the prophet up, the first thing the angel said to him was a question – “What do you see?” And this is likewise an important question for us.
 
You see, what we can see is important because if we can’t see it, we can’t accomplish it. Did you know that everything that is created has to first be seen by its creator? Yes, there must first be a vision in order for something to be invented.
 
Well, when it comes to our spiritual growth & fitness, we have to be able to see it. We have to see ourselves as fit! We have to see ourselves as strong! We have to see ourselves as in shape spiritually!
 
But what was it that the LORD was showing Zechariah? It was a solid gold lampstand!
 
Now does anyone out there have any idea what a golden lampstand symbolizes in the Bible? Well, at the beginning of the Book of Revelation, it is clear that the seven golden lampstands represented the seven churches of Asia Minor. So here, it is not a stretch to see that what the LORD was showing Zechariah was a representation of God’s people – the church of their day which was Israel.
 
So the way I see it, the thing that we have to be able to see is that the real us – that which God has created in His image and likeness – is to Him a golden lampstand.
 
The lampstand represents the light of the world that the LORD’s people are to be to this dark & perverse generation. But being called “golden” lampstands indicates how the LORD sees us in regard to value.
 
You see, gold is widely considered this world’s most precious commodity, right? So to the LORD, He sees His church as valuable & precious!
 
Now if you consider the seven churches of Revelation that were all called golden, they weren’t all so perfect. No, most of them were rebuked by the Lord Jesus for some pretty bad flaws they had. Yet, even in their imperfections, they were all considered golden.
 
Church, we need to know that even though you and I are very flawed and imperfect vessels, the LORD still sees us as valuable. Yes, our mistakes & failures do not change the way He both has created us and sees us. Amen!
 
So if this is how He sees us, then this is how we need to see ourselves! And I can guarantee you that seeing this “golden lampstand” that Zechariah saw is what will unlock more potential in us. Yes, as we see ourselves in the light that the LORD sees us, we will be more inclined to reach the level He has envisioned for us. Amen?
 
THE TWO OLIVE TREES
 
So this golden lampstand had some very specific attributes, didn’t it? It had a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. But I want you to notice how verse two goes on to say – “Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.’ ” And this was a very significant part of the vision he was seeing!
 
The significance of this part of the vision Zechariah had, was that the olive trees that were planted on both sides of the lampstand were (as the Amplified Bible brings out) “supplying it continuously with oil.”
 
You see, in their day, they used the oil that came from olive trees to burn in these kinds of lamps. Therefore, olive oil, to them, represented a supply of something that was extremely needful and important. So, by not having just two vials of olive oil, but two olive trees planted at its side, this lampstand would have a constant supply of the oil needed to burn continuously. 
 
Now we know through the things revealed in the New Testament that oil always represents the anointing. And if you look ahead to the end of Zechariah chapter 4 (verse 14), the angel tells Zechariah specifically who these two olive trees represent: He says that they represent the two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.
 
Now Zechariah does not go into specifically who these two anointed ones are in this chapter, but again, we can interpret this prophecy through the rest of the Scriptures:
 
In the Book of Revelation, we are told that these would be the two witnesses who would come in the end times, during the tribulation. But notice that Zechariah describes these as those who were standing beside God. To me, this shows that they had to be more than just a human. Yes, they had to be equal with God the Father themselves. So, who would those two be? You got it – The Spirit and the Word! The two anointed ones are the Second and Third Person of the Godhead—the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit—because both of them are referred to as anointed. Jesus is called the “The Anointed One” (i.e. Christ) and the Holy Spirit is referred to as “the anointing” (See First John 2:26). 
 
Therefore, it is these two anointed ones of the Godhead that were going to supply the ability to Zerubbabel and the children of Israel to fulfill God’s will for their lives. (We will see this described more shortly) Likewise, the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit—the Anointed One and His Anointing are Who will give us that continual supply of grace to let our spiritual light so shine before men and to empower us to grow into our full spiritual potential!
 
NOT DESPISING THE DAY OF SMALL BEGINNINGS
 
So, let’s move on to what we are told next in Zechariah chapter four, and see exactly the message that this prophecy was intending to communicate to all the “Zerubbabel’s” out there:
 
Zechariah 4:6-10 says, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts. ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ” Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
 
You know, things like physical and spiritual exercise can feel like an insurmountable mountain too, right? I’m sure the mountain that the angel of the LORD was referring to here was the mountain of rubble left behind by the destruction of the Temple. So the first thing that went into the reconstruction of the Temple was what? It was “attitude.”
 
Now verse 10 gives us that very important Biblical principle through a question – “For who has despised the day of small beginnings?”
 
This is obviously a question that condemns the idea of despising the day of small beginnings, right? You see, the LORD knows that small beginnings, while oftentimes despised by those who are walking in them, are necessary for building that person up to the ultimate outcome that He has for them.
 
But the word “despised” here is the key word. While we think of this word as meaning to hate or feel contempt for something, the Bible describes this word as simply not placing the appropriate value on something. Our biblical example of this is when we are told that Esau “despised” his birthright. Now Esau didn’t hate his birthright. He just simply didn’t esteem his birthright like he should have, which the LORD saw as him despising it.
 
So despising the day of small beginnings would describe not seeing the value of that time period, and that’s what we need to avoid when it comes to these small beginnings – not having the right attitude.
 
Why is having the right attitude important when it comes to these small beginnings? It’s because if you don’t have the correct mentality, you won’t make it from the small beginning to the desired outcome.
 
If the Lord called you to do it and started this good work, He will see you through. Just be faithful in little, so He can make you ruler over much—expanding your ministry opportunities and granting you grace all along the way!
 
GRACE, GRACE!
 
And what is really cool about this biblical account is that we can glean from it what the LORD considers the right attitude to have during these days of small beginnings. So let’s look back at verses 6-7 because contained in these verses are what I believe to be the right way to think when it comes to the building up of our spiritual temple …
 
Again, the angel told Zechariah – “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.” The message that this vision of the lampstand and the olive trees was intended to communicate is wrapped up in this one statement that the angel said was the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel –  “ ‘It’s not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
 
You see, the Lord was saying that it was only going to be by the ability of His Holy Spirit that this awesome task was going to be accomplished. It was not going to be by the might and strength that Zerubbabel possessed, but only by His Spirit.
 
You know, the Bible says, that unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who try and build it (Psalm 127:1). That means that unless the Lord does the work of building, we are wasting our time—for while we can do some things, it is not worth talking about.     
 
Now what are these words “might” and “power” referring to that the Lord of hosts was telling Zerubbabel that this great task was not going to be accomplished by?
 
The word “might” denotes his collective strength. In other words, this word focuses more on the amount of outside help that Zerubbabel had—such as, the number of people he had working for him or the resources they had to work with. The Lord was saying that he was going to do his work for God, but it was not going to be by the resources or outside help that he had. It was going to be by the Spirit of God.
 
And I believe this is a word for so many of us. It is certainly tempting to lean on our own “might”—that is, maybe our financial resources or on how many people we have helping us. But what we must always strive to do is not put our trust in this outside help. Yes, we need money to do certain things and, yes, we need people to help us, but we must always keep our eyes on Him as our source and not on numbers of dollars or numbers of people.
 
I have learned that the Lord oftentimes will not let you put your trust in these things. I have lost partners and then, right after they quit supporting our ministry, the Lord would add someone else. The same has happened in my church: you’ll lose someone and then the Lord will give you another (sometimes two) to take their place. So, I say all of this to say, keep your faith and trust in Him and not in numbers. That got King David in trouble, and will get us in trouble as well.
 
So again, “might” refers to collective strength and outside help. So, this means that we are not going to be perfected by anyone else’s help, but by the Holy Spirit. Our spiritual development is not going to come from spending a great amount of time listening to other preacher’s sermons; it is going to come from hearing what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. It is not going to come from hanging out with other believers; it is going to come from spending time in God’s presence and fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit.
 
Now I am not discounting the importance of listening to teaching tapes and reading books that are godly because they are good in their place. What I am saying though is that you are not really going to grow, apart from spending time with God Himself. His presence will transform you faster and greater than any other person’s presence will, and just one word from God will impact you more than thousands of words from man. Of course, God can speak to you and affect you through these natural things, but there is no substitute to just you and God fellowshipping together.
 
Now the word “power” deals more with Zerubbabel’s own, individual strength—referring to his own individual ability (i.e. his intellect and strength) to bring this great work to pass. So, God was saying that he was going to do his work for God, but it was not going to be by his own cleverness, abilities, or physical strength; it was going to be by the Spirit of God.
 
This is also a great temptation—to lean upon our own understanding and on the things we are good at. We have to avoid even taking the wisdom we have accumulated and the abilities God has given us, and putting our trust in them rather than in Him.  
 
So how does all of this apply to us being fruitful for God? It means that we are going to accomplish God’s will and do what is pleasing in His sight, not by any intrinsic values in ourselves or by any help from without, but only by the help of the Holy Spirit. This is a very important thing to understand, especially for us under this new and better covenant.
 
The apostle Paul was the one that God gave the fullness of this revelation to: In Romans chapter seven, he explains the utter frustration that comes to the man or woman who tries to keep the law in their own power. He says that although they have it in their heart to do what is pleasing in God’s sight, they lack the ability to do it because of the weakness of their flesh. But in Romans chapter eight, Paul provides the solution to this dilemma: It is the Holy Spirit! You see, before Romans chapter eight, the Holy Spirit is only referred to once or twice, but in chapter eight alone He is referred to scores of times. What can we conclude from this? If we are going to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law, we are going to have to walk in and be led by the Spirit of God. We cannot really please God with the arm of the flesh. It is only by the Spirit of God that we can live a life of pleasing God.
 
In regard to this: In order for us to become all that God intends for us to become in our spiritual lives, we are going to have to depend fully upon the grace of God and not on our own might and power. Amen?
 
So again, this means that you are not going to grow up spiritually in your own strength or because of any outside help. You and I cannot will it to happen. It is only going to happen through your personal fellowship with Jesus Christ and through the ability of the Holy Spirit. 
 
Therefore, the proper mindset that we need to possess when going into the building up of our spiritual temple is that it’s not going to happen through our own might or power. It’s going to happen by the might and power of the Holy Spirit!  Amen!
 
THREE IMPORTANT WAYS OF THINKING
 
But then, how do we cooperate with the Holy Spirit? How do we allow Him to do it in us? Well, it begins with thinking a certain way and possessing a certain mindset.
 
So I want you to notice what the Prophet Zechariah says next: He says, “Who are you, O great mountain?” He begins with the question of disrespect. He was basically saying, “I don’t even know who you are. You’re nothing.” Then he says that, before Zerubbabel, this great mountain would get flattened and become a plain. And then he even went as far as visualizing the capstone being put on this project.
 
Do you see what was happening here? We see three huge steps that went into the reconstruction of the temple that started right between Zerubbabel’s ears. 

1. Don’t respect the mountain more than you do the God of the mountain.
2. Declare that the mountain before you will become a plain before you.
3. Visualize your capstone.

 
Let’s begin with the way we address our mountain …
 
The beginning of this verse has always reminded me of Jesus’ words to His disciples in Mark 11:23 that “Whosoever shall say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things that he says shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he says.” And like it is in this popular verse, Zechariah 4:7 shows the mountain being addressed, not God.
 
You see, there is a time to pray and there is a time to say. There is a time to pray to God, but not when it involves mountains that are standing in our way from accomplishing great things for God. This is when we must speak to the mountain!
 
And in this prophecy, the “mountain” is certainly being confronted—not a literal “mountain”, but the seemingly impossible task in front of Zerubbabel (and perhaps, visually, the huge pile of rubble from the previous Temple Solomon had built). The prophecy states, “Who are you, O great mountain?” Notice that this is seemingly a statement of disdain and disrespect; you could interpret this phrase this way— “Who are you, mountain? You are nothing to God’s Spirit! You might seem great and insurmountable in the natural, but to God, you are a piece of cake.”
 
Likewise, when we are doing something for God, in the natural, it might seem too difficult or impossible. This is when we are to prophecy to our “mountain” with disrespect for its abilities, and say, “Who are you, O mountain of carnality? Who are you, O mountain of debt? Who are you, O mountain of disease? You are nothing to my God!”   
 
Then the prophecy continues with— “Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!” In other words, “You might seem like a mountain right now, but you shall be completely removed!” What an awesome statement of faith! It totally looks beyond the insurmountable problem before, it and looks with the eyes of faith to the eventual manifestation of God’s promise.
 
You see, it is important for these things to come out of our mouths. As Jesus said, we must speak to the mountain! Yes, it is only when we “prophecy to our mountains” that they will be removed and become a plain before us.
 
But specifically, I want you to see that, by faith, the mountain is said to have become a plain. So in our case, it will be us declaring what we will become before we have any evidence of it in the natural.
 
Notice the next statement in this prophecy— “And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!”’
 
Bringing forth the capstone describes the completion of rebuilding God’s house. In other words, it describes them reaching their goal. So our seeing ourselves reach our goal of spiritual fitness is also very important.
 
And what was the response going to be? They would be shouting and praising God for His grace that truly got the job done!
 
You see, when we do things for God the right way, which is by the power of His Holy Spirit and not in our own ability, the response will be a resounding— “It is all a product of the grace of God! It was done by God’s grace!”
 
In Ephesians 1:3-5, we have a list of different things that God has done for us in our salvation, and in verse 6, Paul says that the result of all of these things that God has freely given us would be— “So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.” (NLT) This should be the response to everything in our lives, including everything we accomplish in pleasing God - “Thank you God for the grace that enabled me to do that!”
 
This also reminds me of Mark 4:27 where, when describing how the kingdom works, Jesus describes the fruit coming with the words, “and he himself does not know how.” I believe this is the most powerful statement in this parable and is the point Jesus was trying to get across. This sower planted the seed in good ground and then there was nothing else he could do but rest! After the process of time, the seed began to sprout and grow, and he didn’t even know how it happened.
 
You see, this is the only way God will allow you to grow spiritually. He is not going to let you try and force fruit in your life. He will actually oppose you! Why? Because He wants all the glory! He does not want you to be able to take credit for your growth. He wants you to be like this sower, who had to say when asked about the harvest he had in his field - “You know what, all I did was put the seed in the ground. I couldn’t tell you how those little seeds produced all this. It just happened on its own. I can’t figure it out. I don’t know how!”
 
Church, these are just some of the attitudes that we need to possess during the days of starting small. We need to first wake up and not let our flesh decide what we are going to do. No, we need to press through the flesh’s tendency to not exercise spiritually and one of the ways we do this is by what we see. We need to see ourselves as fit! We need to see ourselves as grown up and in shape spiritually. But we can only do this by knowing how God’s sees us – and that is as golden! By knowing that He sees us with value & potential, it will inspire us to work out all the more. Then we realize it’s not by our own might or by our own power. No, it’s by the Spirit of God that we will develop. Unless He builds the house, we labor in vain. Amen?
 
And finally, it comes down to our attitude towards the mountain: We need to not respect it in the least. We need to declare its removal. And we need to see the finishing touches being applied.
 
Church, when we have this kind of attitude, there’s no mountain that can’t be tackled – And that includes the mountain of spiritual weakness & lethargy. Amen!  

REVIEW
 
So a couple of weeks ago we started a new series on how to get spiritually fit. And when I am talking about getting in shape spiritually, I am not referring to what a lot of people consider to be “spiritual.” No, I am referring to our inward man, called our spirit, getting fit and in good shape. And the fact is, the real us that lives on the inside of this flesh desperately needs to be nourished & exercised just like our body needs these things.
 
We see this in First Timothy 4:6-8 where the apostle Paul makes the comparison between physical nutrition & exercise and spiritual nutrition & exercise. These verses say, “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
 
So we can see how the apostle Paul likened how we get in shape spiritually to how we get in shape physically. And as I told you in the beginning – that is how we are going to tackle this subject of getting spiritually fit. We are going to look at how this works in the natural and see how it works the same way spiritually. 
 
So in week one, we looked at the first and most foundational part of being spiritually fit and that is becoming spiritually alive by being what the Bible calls “born again.”
 
We looked at the various Scriptures where being born again is described and saw that this is how one is made spiritual. But we saw how being born again is not just some metaphorical way of describing someone having a new life. No, it is a literal transformation that takes place in the spirit where the Holy Spirit impregnates us with the Father’s seed, and we become a new creation in Christ Jesus.
 
But we saw that the awesome part of all of this is that when you are born of God, you’ve got all the spiritual genes that you need to be fit, in shape, and strong in your spirit! In other words, you inherited your spiritual DNA/genes from HIM and, therefore, have His nature and potential.
 
Now in the natural, not everyone is born on the same playing field. That’s because we inherit whatever our parents inherited physically & mentally. However, spiritually speaking, we are all on the same playing field, being born again from the same Heavenly Father. Yes, for everyone who has experienced the new birth has been born with ALL of the characteristics & qualities that they need to be strong and fit in the spirit just like their Heavenly Father. So since you’ve got God’s divine nature, you’ve got His potential when it comes to getting fit.
 
But last week, we looked at just because one is born, that doesn’t automatically mean that they can develop like an adult can. No, even though a baby is born with all of the bones and muscles that it is ever going to have, the child has to grow up and mature physically in order to unlock their full potential in fitness.
 
So we talked about how just as we all must be born again spiritually, we all likewise must grow up spiritually. Sure, we might have all experienced a lot of grace right after we were born again to where it felt like the Lord was carrying us & feeding us, but that usually doesn’t continue forever. And I believe that’s because the LORD wants us to grow up – learning to walk on our own and feeding ourselves.
 
But we learned that just like it is in the natural, just because we’ve been saved for decades doesn’t mean we’ve automatically grown up. Think about it from the physical: There are a lot of people that even though they have become 20, 30, or 40 years old, they still haven’t grown up a lot. Sure, they might have gotten bigger physically, but mentally & emotionally they still act like a 10-year-old.
 
Well, I believe that same thing happens to a lot of born again, Spirit-filled Christians. Sure, they might be spiritually alive, but they haven’t grown much over the years. That’s on us, church! It’s up to us to grow up and hit the gym. The LORD is not going to do this for you. We all must decide how to become spiritually mature and to get in shape in our inward man. 
 
So we saw that the Bible actually talks a lot about spiritual infancy and shows us that it is a much more widespread epidemic in the Lord’s church than most realize. Yes, there are several New Testament passages of Scripture that talk about being babes in Christ and most of these verses are not commendations.
 
So we looked at most of these and learned what spiritual maturity looks like and how we grow up out of spiritual infancy …
 
Some of the things we learned included that the fruit of being spiritually mature is the fruit of the Spirit, not the gifts of the Spirit. Yes, we learned that what made the Corinthians carnal was that they were walking in things like strife and divisions. So even though they had an abundance of gifts, the fruit of the Spirit wasn’t as developed, which kept them in spiritual infancy.
 
So we learned spiritually mature people learn how to clothe themselves. Yes, they will choose certain spiritual behaviors even when they might feel like something else just like a naturally mature person learns how to both dress and behave in this world.
 
We also learned how another trait of maturity is learning how to talk, and how that is exactly what the word for “babes” meant – unable to speak. So evidently God considers a mature person as someone who knows how to use & control their tongue.
 
Also, the New Testament teaches us that a spiritually mature person discerns what to eat. Yes, just like a baby doesn’t have the filter of knowing what it should ingest, likewise spiritual babies tend towards eating whatever doctrine that appeals to them.       
 
So what is the solution to spiritual infancy? How do we grow up spiritually? We saw that this comes through both crying out (i.e. hungering & thirsting for) pure spiritual milk that comes through both fellowship with the LORD and through His Word.
 
When we put our whole heart into getting to know God better and becoming disciples of His Word, we can’t help but grow up in our salvation. Amen?
 
JUST GET TO THE DOOR
 
Now then … Now that someone has been born again and has matured spiritually, they are in that place in life where they can truly get fit and in shape spiritually.
 
So what is the first thing someone who desires to start exercising and getting in shape needs to do? What is the best way to go about getting started to get fit? Well, a lot of physical fitness experts will tell you that the first step to getting in shape physically starts right between the ears. In other words, it is cultivating the right attitude and mentality that goes into getting in shape.
 
Well, I believe that is also true with getting in shape spiritually. Yes, there are certain mentalities and attitudes that go into becoming spiritually fit.
 
So over the next couple of weeks, I want us to look at some of the ways of thinking that propel us to go into health & fitness so that we can learn how our frame of mind also impacts our spiritual health & fitness.
 
Let me start out this week by giving you a good example of what I’m talking about:
 
One thing I remember hearing my wife, Shannon, say (who has a degree in health & fitness, mind you) is that if someone who has decided to start working out can just “get to the door” of the gym, they have overcome the first obstacle.
 
Anyone in here who has either endeavored to get in shape or allowed themselves to get out of shape will tell you that there is a lot in this flesh that will try to keep you from going to the gym. It’ll try to convince you that it’s too tired, it doesn’t have the energy, it was a hard day at work, it doesn’t want to roll out of bed, etc., etc., etc.
 
But just as consistent as those obstacles are, is the following statement people make who press through and exercise anyway when they didn’t feel like it: They will say, “Man, I’m so glad I went to work out today! I feel so much better!” 
 
Now I am going to get a little ahead of myself, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard something similar right here – People tell me all the time about how they were tempted to not come to church, but they pushed through and came anyway. And when they left, they told me – “Pastor, that service was just for me! I needed to hear what you had to say.”
 
So when it comes to working out spiritually, the lesson I learn from this is we have to overcome the flesh’s tendency to try and talk us out of doing what we need to do and what’s best for us – and this all starts between the ears, right?
 
BROTHER VERSUS BROTHER
 
Church, you have to know that this flesh that we have is diametrically opposed to nourishing & exercising our spirit. Our bodies will actually war against us doing what we have to do to get spiritually fit.
 
We learn this in Galatians chapter 5 where the apostle Paul teaches us that the flesh is opposed to the spirit and the spirit is opposed to the flesh – these being contrary to each other. Let’s look at this verse …
 
Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
 
Now regarding this term “Spirit” remember – there are no capitalized words in the original language. Capitalizations were added by the translators based on whether they feel this word pnuema was referring to the Holy Spirit of God or some other kind of spirit such as an evil spirit or our human spirit. Therefore, I believe the battle that is being described here is our new nature in Christ versus our old nature in the flesh.
 
So when we see the phrase “the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh,” we are talking about our born-again spirit versus our old man of the flesh. In fact, this word “lusts” literally means “desires or longs for.” So, what does this mean that the flesh “desires” against the spirit and the spirit “desires” against the flesh? The key is in understanding what the word “against” means here. Both times it is used in this verse, they come from the Greek word kata which carries the idea of something that is suppressing and dominating. So, for example, what the phrase “the flesh lusts against the spirit” literally means is “the flesh desires to suppress the spirit.” Likewise, Paul goes on to say that “the spirit desires to dominate the flesh.”
 
And then Paul goes on to say that “these are contrary to one another.” This means that they are “opposites” and, therefore, “opposed to” one another.
 
Oh, there are so many different analogies I could use to describe the opposition that we have between our spirit and our flesh. They are the world’s biggest “rivals”—like two sports teams or “adversaries” who are constantly “warring” against one another. The competition is fierce. The hatred is evident. And the rivalry will never end. Like two amateur wrestlers who are pitted against one another, both trying to pin the other down. That describes the flesh and the spirit—both in us, desiring to drive and control us.
 
And notice what the apostle Paul says at the end of this verse – “… so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
 
Do you know why you have had those points in your Christian life where you didn’t seem able to do the things that you really wanted to do—meaning, you had a desire to do the right thing, but there was a part of you that seemed to drive you in the other direction? We’ve all been there.
 
In fact, the apostle Paul described this frustrating condition in Romans 7:15-25 – “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
 
You see, Paul realized that the flesh is utterly corrupt and bent on sin. Therefore, this flesh is always going to try and pull us away from godliness, righteousness, holiness, and spiritual growth. But the truth, that Paul brought out in Romans chapter 8, is the reason we have those times where we seem unable to do the good, righteous and holy things that we desire in our hearts to do, is because we are walking in the flesh and not in the spirit.
 
That is why Paul encouraged us in the previous verse (Galatians 5:16) to walk in the spirit to where we will not do the things our flesh lusts for. In other words, if we walk by the spirit, we won’t walk by the flesh and, as a result, will be able to do the things we wish! Amen!
 
You see, there is a war on the inside of us—flesh versus spirit. It is the nature of God against the nature of Satan. Yes, it is Isaac versus Ishmael; Jacob versus Esau; Cain versus Abel. It’s brother against brother. And through this battle on the inside of us we are doomed to live a roller coaster Christianity if we do not learn to live by the spirit, which comes through developing our spiritual nature to where it runs the show.
 
WHO IS THE ARBITRATOR?
 
But let me remind you – you are not just a two-part being. You don’t just have the inward man and the outward man, a spirit and a body. No, you are a THREE-part being, also possessing a soul.
 
And the truth is that the soul is the variable in all of this. Yes, whichever nature – spiritual or carnal – that can get the soul to team up with it is the part of us that is going to win and run the show.
 
Let me show you an insightful teaching by Jesus that echoes this, found in Luke chapter 12:
 
It starts off in verse 13 by saying – “Then one from the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’ ”
 
So notice our teaching starts off with enmity between two brothers – sounds eerily similar to the situation between Jacob & Esau doesn’t it – as they warred over their birthright & blessing. Again, like we just saw in Galatians chapter 5, there will always be this striving between the two natures we have – given by our earthly father and our Heavenly Father, our earthly mother and our Heavenly Mother, the Holy Spirit.
 
And because of this striving within us, we do the same thing that this young man from the crowd did – we go to Jesus about it, hoping that He will fix it.
 
But notice Jesus’ response in verse 14 – “But He said to him, ‘Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?’ ”
 
So Jesus’ response to this man’s plea was simple – He said that He wasn’t called to be their judge or arbitrator. Now what is an arbitrator? It’s an independent party officially appointed to settle a dispute between two or more. Jesus said that He was not that.
 
So what we can learn from this is that Jesus isn’t the one that’s going to fix this struggle between our two brothers. Yes, Cain will always want to kill Abel, Ishmael will always mock Isaac, and Jacob will always want the birthright & blessing. This struggle will continue until the Great Judgment at the Second Coming of Christ. But until then, He is not the Judge or Arbitrator.  
 
But what He will do is teach us the why’s behind the struggle. And in this case, it was this brother’s covetousness that fueled the strife between he and his brother. Notice the rest of verse 14 … “… And He said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.’ ”
 
Then in Luke 12:16-19 Jesus gives them a parable, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”
 
You see, the soul is kind of like the middle-man - or you could say, the soul is the “yes man.” In other words, the soul is the third part of us that determines the direction of our life – because whichever part of us it agrees with, is the part of us that will dominate our life.
 
Notice in verse 19 that Jesus quotes this fleshly man as saying, “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’ ” First of all, notice that this man said that he was going to say something to his soul. Now what part of this man do you reckon was trying to persuade his soul to take it easy and hoard up these treasures? That’s easy – that was obviously his flesh!
 
So what would the regenerate, righteous part of this man desire (if he possesses the new nature)? It wouldn’t be hoarding up treasures for himself. It would be looking for ways to give to others. In short, it would be love, goodness, kindness, etc.; not covetousness.
 
So whichever part of us can convince the soul to team up with it is the part of us that will win. So, if the flesh is persuasive enough saying, “Hey soul, let’s take this path right here. It is best for us and it’s easier. Come on, let’s go this way …” and then the soul obliges by thinking in that direction, that is the path your life is certain to take. But, on the other hand, if the spirit man can convince the soul to go the other direction – by getting the soul to think like it thinks – then the spirit and the soul will override the lusts of the flesh.
 
I guess we can then say that our soul is the arbitrator. Yes, it is the part of us that calls the shots and determines what direction we will take. Amen?
 
That’s why the attitude & mentality that we possess is the first and most important variable – because this victory in becoming spiritually fit begins with the soul.
 
So that’s when we have to just “get to the door” – that is, decide that we are going to do what we need to do more than what we want to do. And once you and I press through the adversity & struggle of our flesh and do the right thing, it’ll start getting easier.
 
But for most of us, we’ve given our flesh what it wants when it wants it for so long. So don’t expect it to just roll over and play dead and let us get in shape spiritually. It will dig its heels in and resist those spiritual exercises.
 
That’s when we have to say, unlike this man did in Jesus’ parable – “Soul! You have been laid up for far too long! No more taking it easy! It’s time to eat & drink right! It’s time to get happy about some spiritual exercise!”
 
So let’s get our soul on board, church! Let’s start thinking like a fit person! Let’s have the attitude of someone who is bound to get in shape and quit letting this flesh run the show!  

INTRODUCTION
 
So last week we started a new series on how to get spiritually fit. We did this because during this time every year, people are making all kinds of New Year’s resolutions to start exercising, eating better, and getting in shape physically. So I felt led for us to start out the New Year focusing on what is much more important than getting physically fit and that is getting spiritually fit.
 
Now when I refer to getting in shape spiritually, I am referring to our inward man, called our spirit. And the fact is, we are not just our outward man; we have a spiritual nature on the inside of us, and it’s this hidden man of the heart that is going to live forever. Therefore, our spiritual condition is of even more importance than our physical condition. 
 
But most people don’t even realize that they are a spirit, much less know that it needs to be developed. However, the fact is, the real us that lives on the inside of this flesh desperately needs to be nourished & exercised just like our body needs nourishment & exercise. And from what we saw last week, we do this the same way spiritually as we do it physically.
 
Let’s look again at our golden text that describes this – First Timothy 4:6-8. It says, “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
 
Now of course, we know that Paul was not talking about eating right & exercising physically. No, he was talking about being nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine as well as exercising ourselves toward godliness. So what Paul was referring to was eating right and exercising from a spiritual standpoint.
 
But you can see how the apostle Paul likened being in shape spiritually to how we get in shape physically. Yes, in order to be strong & in shape in spirit is the same way we become strong & in shape physically according to the Holy Spirit who inspired Paul to write this.
 
So as I told you last week, that is how we are going to tackle this subject of getting spiritually fit. We are going to look at how this works in the natural and see how it works the same way spiritually. Amen?
 
So last week, we looked at the first and most foundational part of being spiritually fit and that is to become spiritually alive by being what the Bible calls “born again.”
 
We looked at the various Scriptures where being born again is described and saw that this is how one is made spiritual. But we saw how being born again is not just some metaphorical way of describing someone having a new life. No, it is a literal transformation that takes place in the spirit where the Holy Spirit impregnates us with the Father’s seed, and we become a new creation in Christ Jesus.
 
So no, this is an actual new life that is birthed within us that came from the incorruptible seed of God which totally changed the nature of our spirit man to reflect the nature of our Heavenly Father.
 
But we saw that the awesome part of all of this is that when you are born of God, you’ve got all the spiritual genes that you need to be fit, in shape, and strong in your spirit! In other words, you inherited your spiritual DNA/genes from HIM and, therefore, have His nature and potential.
 
Now in the natural, not everyone is born on the same playing field. That’s because we inherit whatever our parents inherited. Some of us are gifted in certain areas, while others are gifted in other areas. So in this case, some of us sure got the short end of the stick when it came to some of these physical and mental things.
 
However, the same is not true spiritually – for everyone who has experienced the new birth has been born with ALL of the characteristics & qualities that they need to be strong and fit in the spirit just like their Heavenly Father. No, in Him, we are capable of both developing into His image and according to His likeness (Genesis 1:26)!
 
Therefore, there is no excuse for any of us who have been born from above to not become as good looking, smart, and successful as we can possibly be because the genes of our Heavenly Father are all extraordinary! Yes, you’ve got God’s divine nature, my friend! Spiritually speaking, you’ve got His eyes! You’ve got His hair! You’ve got His physique! You’ve got His giftings & His capabilities! Praise the LORD!
 
TIME TO GROW UP!
 
BUT now that we are born again, that doesn’t mean that you and I are good to go. Sure, the new birth might have granted us entrance into the kingdom of God and gave us some eternal security, but there is more to be had. 
 
Just like a baby is born into this world alive and with all of the bones and muscles that it is ever going to have, the child must still grow & develop. Yes, both its bones have to grow, and its muscles have to develop. However, all of this is not automatic. That baby has to be properly nourished and certain physical things have to start happening so that it can build itself up the way God designed it.  
 
Now a lot of what is done for a baby in order for it to start growing up is provided by grace, right? No, a baby can’t survive on its own - if it was born and it was all left up to him or her to feed itself, that baby would die. So it needs its parents, not only to survive but to thrive.
 
And did you know that it works this way spiritually as well? I think a lot of us have had this as a part of our testimony – that when we were born again, it was as if God carried us for a period of time. Yes, there was extra grace on our lives where it’s easy to read & study the Word, go to church, to pray, etc.
 
So it was like the LORD was carrying us & feeding us like a parent takes care of their child during its infancy. Some call this early season of being married to the LORD right after we were born again, our “honeymoon” experience.  But as I’m sure we’ve all experienced, the honeymoon always ends. Yes, that same kick start grace doesn’t always seem to remain throughout our Christian walk.
 
People have speculated as to why this seems to be the case, but the obvious conclusion that we come to is this: We cannot expect the LORD to carry us through our entire spiritual life just as we wouldn’t expect a mother or father to continue doing everything for their baby as it grows out of infancy. No, the child has to start learning how to feed itself. It has to learn how to walk on its own. It has to GROW UP!
 
And I believe that is what our Heavenly Father wants from all of us – that we would grow up in our salvation and tap into that grace for ourselves. This is where our getting spiritually fit comes into play. It is us intentionally & deliberately deciding to grow up & develop spiritually.
 
Now just like it is in the natural, just because we’ve been saved for decades doesn’t mean we’ve automatically grown up. Think about it from the physical for a moment: There are a lot of people that even though they have become 20, 30, or 40 years old, they still haven’t grown up a lot. Sure, they might have gotten bigger physically, but mentally & emotionally they still act like a 10-year-old.
 
Well, I believe that same thing happens to a lot of born again, Spirit-filled Christians. Sure, they might be spiritually alive, but they haven’t grown much over the years. That’s on us, church! It’s up to us to grow up and hit the gym. The LORD is not going to do this for you. We all must decide how to become spiritually mature and to get in shape in our inward man. 
 
So that’s what I feel led to talk about this week – growing up out of spiritual infancy.
 
Did you know that the Bible actually talks a lot about spiritual infancy and shows us that it is a much more widespread epidemic in the Lord’s church than most realize? It sure does! There are several New Testament passages of Scripture that talk about being babes in Christ and most of these verses are not commendations.
 
So let’s go through some of these New Testament verses that talk about spiritual immaturity and glean from them both what are the symptoms of being babes in Christ and how to grow up into maturity.
 
Again, all of these things are what are going to cause us to grow to the place where we can become spiritually fit – for you cannot take a 5-year-old and develop them like you can someone who is 25. There’s just something about maturing & blossoming physically that enables one to enter into the full potential of their physical condition.
 
WHAT SPIRITUAL MATURITY LOOKS LIKE
 
Now the first Scripture I want us to look at is found near the same ones we looked at last week – First Peter 1:23.
 
Again, the apostle Peter talked to his readers presuming that they had been born again by saying, “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (Verse 23). Then after he makes this statement, he quotes an Old Testament verse that talks about how God’s Word indeed never fails and will outlast all of these natural things.
 
But notice what he goes on to say at the beginning of the following chapter (First Peter 2:1) – “Therefore (So because you have been born again of God’s incorruptible seed which will live and abide forever), lay side all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking …”
 
So notice that the very first exhortation he gives to the born-again believer is to lay aside some vices (i.e. works of the flesh). Therefore, a big part of growing up is to what? To stop wearing certain things.
 
You see, the word that is used for “laying aside’ here describes putting something off or taking it off and throwing it away. It’s used in Acts 7:58 to describe how those who were about to stone Stephen “laid down” their clothes at the feet of Saul.
 
And isn’t this a big sign of immaturity in this natural world as well – how people dress? An immature person who is behaving childishly will say, “Well, I’m just going to wear what I feel like wearing.” Well, wearing what you feel like is generally going to be a characteristic of an immature person.
 
But someone will say, “Yeah, Pastor, but I just believe in being real.” Well, what they really mean by saying they are just being real is they are being real carnal because how many of you know a characteristic of being childish is to do and say what you feel like doing and saying. These people don’t hold jobs well. They don’t make many friends. And they certainly don’t prosper in this world.
 
Well, the same is true in God’s kingdom. We have to clothe ourselves in what the LORD deems appropriate, not the way our flesh wants to. My flesh will want to speak its mind, give its opinion, etc., etc., etc. But my spirit chooses the opposite wardrobe.
 
How many of you know that when you grew up, you had to learn how society works? You had to dress appropriately. You couldn’t just say everything you thought. No, in order to thrive in this world, you can’t just do everything you want to do and say everything you want to say.
 
Now the Book of First Corinthians shows us a lot more about what being spiritually mature looks like.
 
Most of us know that this church was rich in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Yes, they had an abundance of spiritual gifting, but as Paul goes on to say in First Corinthians 3:1-3, that didn’t make them spiritual.
 
The apostle Paul starts by saying, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.” So here we see that these spiritually enriched children of God were, in fact, still children. He even went as far as calling them “carnal babies.” We all need a spiritual father like that, huh?
 
Did you know that the word “spiritual” here literally just means “non-carnal.” So here, he is saying that being spiritual is the opposite of being babies in Christ.
 
I oftentimes like to say that all you have to do to be carnal is NOTHING. Well, the opposite is true as well, all we have to do to be spiritual is just get rid of the carnality. But when I speak of “carnality,” what are we talking about? Well, let’s look at the rest of these verses and see if we can get a clue as to what the Holy Spirit considers carnal …
 
Verse 2 goes to say, “I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;”
 
So here we see that one’s ability to handle spiritual truth is indicative of how spiritual one is. Therefore, how much one can handle oftentimes can show their spirituality.
 
Hebrews 5:12-14 describes this same thing when the writers said that their readers had become dull of hearing: They went on to say, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
 
What is being described here is how milk is the only thing the immature can drink because they are “unskilled” in both how to eat solid food and because their discernment level isn’t where it needs to be.
 
You see, we’d be fools to give a baby a ribeye. It couldn’t chew the meat up for one. And it would probably choke on it. It is simply not what a baby can handle. Well, that’s where a lot of Christians are at. They can’t get to the good stuff because they haven’t even started teething yet.
 
Now don’t be mistaken – milk isn’t a bad thing. We all need it initially and it is an important part of spiritual growth. It’s just that we don’t want to still be on the bottle when we are out of the stroller.
 
This reminds me of a prophetic vision I heard a minister once had of a grown man sitting in a stroller with nothing but a diaper on and one of those bonnets on its head. In his left hand, he had a pacifier, and in his right hand, he had a bottle of milk. And this man was crying up a storm like a baby. This minister said that when he saw this, he thought it was the funniest thing he ever saw until the LORD then said, “That’s that way you look to Me right now!” LOL!
 
Then in verse 3, Paul very bluntly told this church – “for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”
 
So here we see that all of this stuff like envy, strife, and divisions within God’s people is CARNAL. In other words, people that yield to these vices are carnal and spiritually immature.
 
You see, there are lot of Christians who think that the ones who are spiritual are those who can quote a lot of Scripture, speak in tongues, or prophesy. Others think that being spiritually mature is simply how we carry ourselves, and so if we act like adults and pretend like we are humble and are nice & kind people, that we are spiritual grown-ups. All of these things aren’t necessarily bad, but they aren’t necessarily spiritual either.
 
So what is being spiritual according to the apostle Paul here? It is not being envious. It is not catering to strife. It is not being divisive. This isn’t necessarily an exhaustive list, but it was what these “carnal Corinthians” were doing.
 
For a more exhaustive list of what being spiritual mature looks like, just look over at Galatians 5:22-23 where the fruits of a truly spiritual life are described – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These nine fruits are characteristic of spiritually mature people. And spiritually immature people do the opposite, and these are called the works of the flesh – things which include, yes, adultery, murder, idolatry, fornication, etc., but they also include things like hatred, jealousy, contentions, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambition. 
 
So don’t be deceived. Know that when people are truly operating in the fruit of the Spirit, they are the spiritually mature and those who operate in the works of the flesh are the spiritually immature and have likely never got off the bottle. It’s tight but it’s right.
 
But let me add one more thing – What we oftentimes do (and this too is a sign of immaturity) is when someone else might be walking in the flesh towards us, meaning that they might be operating in strife against us, we tend to justify our ungodly response and have offense in our hearts towards them because, after all, they started it (Notice the way that phrase sounds, “Well, they started it!” Sounds a little immature, right?)
 
Well, if you are spiritually mature, you won’t do that. When we are grown up in the Spirit, we will still walk in the fruit of the Spirit even when the other person might be operating in the flesh and totally in the wrong. Yes, if I stop loving them, being good & kind to them, and lose my peace & joy, then I am not being spiritually mature.  
 
So my point is that there are some things we need to be mature in but other things we need to be simple concerning. Yes, like a baby doesn’t understand a lot of things - being simple to certain evils that are in the world - we need to be simple concerning evil. But on the flipside, we need to seek to have understanding concerning spiritual things.
 
The apostle Paul said in First Corinthians 14:20 — “Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.”
 
The word for “understanding” describes one’s cognitive abilities. In other words, the mind’s ability to comprehend and understand things like a baby grows in its cognitive faculties.
 
And what is something that a baby needs to grow up in? I’m glad you asked. Let’s look at a few verses that describe to us how babies grow …
 
HOW BABIES GROW UP
 
Back in First Peter chapter 2, we see what we can do to grow up out of spiritual infancy …
 
In verse 2, Peter goes on to build upon this idea of being born again by saying, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby.”
 
So here, he tells them (and us) what a newborn Christian is to do – and again, notice that it is what a physical newborn will do – “desire the pure milk of the Word.” Some translations say to “crave” this spiritual milk. Others say to “long for” it.
 
And what does a baby do when he or she is craving this nourishment? They cry out for it! Yeah, you don’t usually have to guess when a baby is hungry, do you? They will let you by lifting their voice and crying out for some milk!
 
And why do babies cry out for this milk? It’s because they haven’t grown up enough to ask for it: Did you know that in one of the main words that is used to describe spiritual “babes or children” it literally describes one with the inability to speak. So it was as if in the language of their day, one of the main ways they described this particular infant was that they can’t talk yet.
 
And I’m here to tell you that is a distinguishing characteristic of a spiritual babe in Christ – they haven’t learned how to talk.
 
Now this goes both ways: On one hand, it might mean that they just only use their tongue to spew venom on others, not understanding that both death and life are in the power of the tongue. Yes, spiritually immature folks will not guard what they say.
 
The Book of Wisdom, full of the wisdom & understanding that the LORD blessed Solomon with, is loaded with truths about how important our words are and how things like our words, lips, and tongues are like weapons that can hurt both us and others.
 
So although the world likes to say, “Sticks & stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” actually, that’s a lie! Words absolutely can hurt, and the truth is, there are a lot of us here today who have been mortally wounded by words.
 
So a spiritually mature person understands this and chooses their words wisely … But not just to avoid speaking bad things, but to speak LIFE!
 
James 3:2 says, “For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.”
 
Sure, we all stumble in many things – whether we are mature or not. The occasional stumbling in our Christian walk is not what makes one immature. But do you know what does show one’s maturity – our words.
 
Notice James says, “if anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man …” The word used for “perfect” here is the Greek word teleios, and is the word used to describe someone who has come to full age and is fully grown. In other words, it describes an adult or a mature person. Therefore, a spiritually mature person is someone who doesn’t stumble with their words.
 
So we evidently need to learn how to talk if we want to become spiritually mature, right? But speaking of “words,” let’s look back at First Peter 2:2 and see how Peter describes this milk …
 
Now I know this verse says to desire the pure milk of the Word, but that’s actually not the best translation. You’ll find that most expositors like to translate this as spiritual milk. So what is this “spiritual milk” that we are supposed to be crying out for? Well, isn’t the LORD called El Shaddai, the All Breasty One? Doesn’t Peter go on to say in verse 3 – “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious”?
 
So this spiritual milk speaks to me of more of that close & intimate fellowship that we are supposed to enjoy with our Heavenly Father. Yes, the Godhead is meant to provide us with the spiritual nourishment that does what? Well, at the end of verse 2, Peter says, “… that you may grow thereby.” Other translations say, “that you may grow up in your salvation.”
 
So what is it that is going to cause us to grow up in our salvation (or we might say, “grow up spiritually”)? It is a hunger & thirst for pure spiritual milk (i.e. true spiritual things). So it’s having a heart that craves to be fed by God. Yes, it is a hungry heart that seeks His face and desires to know Him and His ways like a baby seeks & desires his or her natural nourishment. Amen?
 
So if I’m growing up, I’m hungering & thirsting after righteousness. I know I need the truth, and I am crying out for it. Hunger is always a symptom of being healthy. Amen!   
  
But there are things that we need to be careful of as we hunger for this spiritual milk, and that is eating things that can harm us. So, guess what else babies are capable of doing in their ignorance? They will eat whatever they can get their hands on!
 
We see this in Ephesians 4:14-15 when the apostle Paul says, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—”
 
Notice how these verses describe how spiritual maturity comes: It begins with the five-fold ministry. God gives us these gifts to equip us. And they equip us by building up the Body so that it becomes a “perfect” (or, mature) man, growing up to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Amen! So just like we have the five main food groups, we have the five main ministry leaders that are meant to nourish us.
 
But I want you to notice the next thing Paul said in verses 14-15: He then went on to describe how that through this spiritual maturity, we are no longer to be “children,” which is the same word used for infants or immature little children. And what did he use as an example of this spiritual immaturity? It was being “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.” In other words, spiritually immature people tend towards ingesting everything they hear, and like little children in the natural, have no filter on what is good to eat and what’s harmful. Amen?
 
So spiritual babies are easily susceptible to error and can get deceived very easily.
 
Here’s another good Scripture that describes the state of the spiritually immature:
 
Second Timothy 4:3 says, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
 
This means that in the Last Days and in the Lord’s church, that we will see a rise in this – people having ears that itch to only hear what they want to hear. These verses say that they will not tolerate “sound doctrine.”
 
Did you know that the word for “sound” here is the word translated “health” in Third John 2? So what Paul was referring to here was “healthy doctrine.”
 
So do you see how this happens? Because as a general rule, people will be spiritually immature and babes in Christ, they will not want to eat healthily. They will heap up for themselves teachers who will preach what they want to hear and how they want to hear it. We might say they will gather up “cooks” who will give them what they want when they want it.
 
This is why we need sound, healthy preaching & teaching of God’s Word. It is what nourishes us like milk nourishes a baby. But this is also why we need that healthy spiritual milk that comes directly through our fellowship with God, to where He has become our provider & nurturer. This is how we grow up in our salvation – through His Word and through relationship with Him.
 
Let’s no longer be spiritual babies (i.e. immature Christians), saints! Let’s grow up in our salvation by learning how to walk, how to talk, what to eat, etc. In doing so, we will grow up in our salvation and become spiritually mature in Christ.

INTRODUCTION
 
In a season where New Year’s resolutions are being made to start exercising, eating better, and getting in shape physically, I felt led for us to start spending some time focusing on what is by far more important than just getting physically fit.
 
You see, we live in a carnal world, and so one thing that this world will always tend towards focusing on is the things of the flesh. So, one of the most obvious things the world will place value on is how we look & feel in our body.
 
Now let me interject this – It’s not that these things aren’t important at all. We are going to learn in this series that there is some value to being physically fit, but that is absolutely not what is most important.  No, what is of much more importance is not the condition of our outward man, it’s the condition of our inward man.
 
You see, we are not just this physical body that we live in. We are a spirit, not just a body. We have an inward man, not just an outward man. And it’s this hidden man of the heart that is going to live forever. Therefore, our spiritual condition is of even more importance than our physical condition. 
 
Now most people don’t even realize that they are a spirit, much less know that it needs to be developed. But the fact is, the real us that lives on the inside of this flesh desperately needs to be nourished & exercised just like our body needs nourishment & exercise.
 
So for this reason, I felt led for us to have a little different New Year’s resolution, and that is to get into shape spiritually and becoming fit and healthy in our inward man.
 
Now let’s take a look at a passage of Scripture that describes to us how spiritual fitness is a real thing. These verses will be our golden text for this series …
 
“If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

• First Timothy 4:6-8

 
Now notice in these verses how we see the apostle Paul encouraging his son in the faith, Timothy, to be a good minister of Jesus Christ by being sure to teach the truth accurately. But what we see him then doing is showing him how to be this good minister, and that is through first, being properly “nourished” and then by “exercise.”
 
Now of course, we know he’s not talking about eating right & exercising physically. No, he is talking about being nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine as well as exercising ourselves toward godliness. So what Paul was referring to was eating right and exercising from a spiritual standpoint, which brings up an interesting question …
 
Is how we get in shape & fit physically and naturally the same way we get in shape & fit spiritually? It sure seems so, doesn’t it? Yes, in order to be strong & in shape in spirit is the same way we become strong & in shape physically.
 
And that is how we are going to tackle this subject of getting spiritually fit. We are going to look at how this works in the natural and see how it works the same way spiritually. Amen?
 
YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN
 
But before we get into any of this about getting spiritually fit, we have got to first deal with the necessity of being born. That might sound strange to you, but the fact is, if we have never been born again, we have nothing to exercise. Yes, you have to first become spiritual before you can become spiritually developed. 
 
It would be like saying that an unborn child needs to get fit and in shape. No one in their right mind would ever say that, right? Well, it’s just as ludicrous to assume that someone who hasn’t been born again can ever get in shape spiritually. It’s an impossibility.
 
So, in order to get fit spiritually we have to first become spiritual, and that is by being born again.
 
Now I know that phrase might be unusual to some of us, but it’s a Biblical phrase that is repeated throughout the New Testament. Jesus coined this terminology to describe one’s ability to enter the kingdom of God in John 3:1-8. So let’s look at how this phrase is used throughout the New Testament by beginning in John chapter 3 …
 
In this profound chapter, Jesus was having a conversation with one of the Pharisees, a man named Nicodemus. And this man came to Jesus by the cover of night saying, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (verse 2). So Jesus answered him in verse 3 by saying – “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
 
Now while some might think Jesus was speaking metaphorically, I don’t believe He was. I believe He literally was saying that one must be “born from above” (the literal rendering of “born again”) in order to both see and enter God’s kingdom.
 
One of the reasons we know this is true is because of Nicodemus’ response in verse 4 – “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” So Nicodemus thought that Jesus was being literal, albeit that He was talking about being born again physically.
 
But notice that Jesus didn’t correct anything other than this Pharisee’s misunderstanding about being physically reborn. No, Jesus simply explained that the new birth that He was referring to was spiritual in nature by saying that “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (See verse 5).
 
You see, both the being born of water and the Spirit can mean a couple of things:
 
Regarding the being born of water, Jesus might have been referring to how in physical birth that a woman’s water would break where the baby was being birthed from. The Hebrews used the term “water” to describe this process of physical birth. But Jesus might have also been referring to being born again through the waters of baptism – meaning, that when one repents and goes through the sacrament of being baptized in water, that is closely associated with the time one is born from above.
 
Either way, I believe there is truth to be found because, yes, one certainly has to first be born physically in order to be born again, but in order to experience this new birth, they also need to identify with the Lord in His death, burial, and resurrection, which is what water baptism is all about.
 
Now the being born of “the Spirit” likely refers to the Holy Spirit’s role in the washing of regeneration and the renewing of our inward man (See Titus 3:5). But it also could refer to our spirit man and not necessarily to the Holy Spirit as it has to be determined by the translators whether the term “spirit” is to be capitalized or not. What that means is that the context of the verse is what determines whether we are talking about our spirit or the Holy Spirit.
 
Like the being born of water, both of these possibilities are consistent with the truth because we know that being born again is a work of the Holy Spirit and also that it is our spirit man that is being reborn. Amen?
 
In fact, the phrase being “born again” can be translated as “born from above.” And to me, this is consistent with the idea of this spiritual new birth because in order to be born again, you have to have parents that initiate the process, right?
 
Some will ask, “Well, that’s the part the Holy Spirit plays, right?” Yes, but He is simply carrying out the process of being born “from above” – meaning, when we are born again, we are born from our Heavenly Father and literally become His children. So technically, when we are born again, we are born from above – that is, from heaven where our Father resides. Amen?
 
So I say all of this to say that being born again is a prerequisite to being spiritually developed and fit.  
 
Now there are some who believe that just because you are born again, that you are already as spiritually developed as you are ever going to be. I don’t believe this is the case, and let me give you give one reason why …
 
How many of you know that Jesus was born “born again.” No, He had no need of being born again like every one of us. The reason being is because we were not born of man. No, He was born of a virgin, which means that the fallen nature of mankind is not where He came from. He was born of His Heavenly Father through His mother, Mary. Therefore, He was born spiritually alive because His Father was Life Himself.
 
But notice what we are told in Luke 2:40 concerning Jesus … It says, “And the child (Jesus) grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”
 
Notice that even Jesus, who was born of God and had the life of God in Him, became strong in spirit. Now do you think that it’s going to be any different for us? Do you think that if the Christ Himself had to grow up spiritually, that we won’t? Absolutely not!
 
So what we can take from this is that even when we are born again and are made spiritually alive, we still need to be developed and made strong in spirit just like Jesus.
 
But again, it all starts with being born again. And if we haven’t been reborn spiritually, we cannot become strong spiritually.
 
EVERYTHING STARTS WITH A SEED
 
You see, church, everything starts with a seed! Everything, including our spiritual growth! You started with a seed. Each and every one of us started out as the seed from our father and then when that seed was “planted” in your mother, you were conceived.
 
It is the same spiritually—The new creation that we were born again as, started with a seed.
 
The apostle Peter elaborates on this in his first epistle: First Peter 1:23 says, “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”
 
Notice that Peter addresses his readers, presuming they have been born again already. That’s why he said here, “having been born again …” But then notice how he goes on to give us some more specific information on what we were born again through …
 
He said that it was not of corruptible seed but incorruptible. This is really important because the Holy Spirit’s point here is that while we were born again the same way we were born physically, it was not the same seed.
 
Now it is important to realize that Peter is not referring to the seed of a plant, but to the seed of a man …
 
The Greek word used in this verse for “seed” is sperma—which is obviously where we get our word “sperm” from.  Peter was saying that just as we are physically born after the seed of a man is planted in the womb of a woman, likewise we are spiritually born again after the seed of God is planted in our hearts. Yes, the analogy is correct— When one is born again, he or she has received God’s spiritual seed!
 
You see, all of us were born physically by the seed of our earthly father. And that is why every one of us were born spiritually corrupted. Why? Because death was inherited through Adam’s seed. So every man’s seed is corrupted spiritually.
 
So what Peter’s point was is that when we were born again, that was not corruptible seed. Meaning it didn’t have death in it. It wasn’t cursed. No, the seed we were born again through was “incorruptible” – meaning, it didn’t have the death or curse that man’s seed possessed. No, God’s seed only has life & blessing. Therefore, it’s incorruptible.  
 
You see, we understand that the seed of a man is the carrier of all the nature and attributes of the man that it originated from. Therefore, it should not surprise us that the seed of God that we receive when we hear and receive the gospel contains the nature and attributes of our Heavenly Father! Wow! That is a powerful truth!
 
So this is the seed that we were born again by – His Word.
 
But then notice what the apostle Peter specifically describes that seed as – “… through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” So, the born-again experience occurs when we hear the Word concerning Jesus and that incorruptible seed is planted in our hearts.
 
So, I say all of this to say that everything from our physical birth to our spiritual rebirth began with a seed, and this is how all fruit begins—with a seed. Amen! Therefore, if these two awesome miracles originate with a seed, how much more will other miracles begin with a seed? Amen!
 
Therefore, when we receive the truth of God’s Word, we become born again. This is when God’s divine nature is placed within us—when we receive God’s “seed.” This means that we have received His divine DNA! (Quick little nugget: Did you know they say DNA actually forms letters and words? We are created by His Word!)
 
When we were born again, we received a new nature that will compel us to grow up to be like our Daddy. Just like we grew up to resemble our natural parents in appearance and personality, likewise we will grow up to resemble our Heavenly Father in spiritual appearance and personality. It is in our spiritual DNA!
 
And this seed of God has no death abiding in it—only life everlasting! Therefore, we are born again of an incorruptible seed because the Word of God lives and abides forever! Hallelujah! We now have eternal life and, therefore, have the capability of growing up to become more and more like our Heavenly Father.
 
THE FATHER’S SEED
 
Let’s look at another verse that further describes this truth of the new birth …
 
In First John 3:9, the apostle John says, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and He cannot sin because He has been born of God.”
 
Now when it comes to this verse, most people get hung up on the “cannot sin” part. Of course, this does not mean that someone who has been born again cannot commit a sin and miss it occasionally. This would not be consistent with this First Epistle of John itself because he said in the first chapter that if we say that we have no sin, we are a liar, and the truth is not in us. He went on to say that if we do sin, that we can confess our sins and be cleansed from all unrighteousness. So, from these Scriptures we can see that John is not saying if we are a Christian, then we will live spotless lives. So, what is he saying?
 
The first thing we need to understand is that when this verse words things like “does not sin” or “cannot sin” it is not to be read like we talk today. If I were to say, “I do not sin” or “I cannot sin” you would hear that I’m saying that I never commit a sin. But in the Greek language, words have different tenses. Therefore, when the Bible uses a phrase like “does not sin” you have to look at the tense that is used in the verb because that will indicate whether the writer was talking about “having done, doing, or continue to do the sin.
 
And in this particular situation, the tense indicates that we will not continue to do (or, practice) sin. Therefore, we can see that John is not referring to a Christian avoiding every specific act of sin; he is referring to how a believer does not continue a lifestyle of sin after he or she has come to know the Lord. 
 
And what is the reason that the apostle John gives that whoever has been born of God does not continue in sin? He says that whoever has been born of God does not sin because God’s seed remains in him!
 
So what does John mean when he said that God’s seed remains in us? Well, just like in First Peter 1:23, the word “seed’ comes from the Greek word sperma which is obviously where we get the word “sperm” from. So, what we can begin to see now is that when the Bible speaks of being born again, it is not some symbolic term of having a new beginning or something else like that (although the new birth does provide a new beginning).
 
No, when we are “born again” we literally are reborn in our spirits. How? Because God’s very own “seed” is placed in us and remains!
 
Now let’s look at this from a natural and physical perspective again: What is inherent in the seed of a man? A man’s sperm carries in it the DNA of the father! So, when we are physically born, we are born with the DNA of our earthly father. This means that we have his nature and will grow up to look and act like him in certain ways (Of course, the mother determines part of this as well).  
 
So, now apply this to being born again: When God’s seed is placed in us and we are born again spiritually, the same thing occurs: We essentially receive the spiritual DNA of Almighty of God! In other words, we receive His genes and His nature! God is love, so love becomes our nature. This is why John went on to say that we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. This is also why peace and joy are immediately experienced. It is because He is the God of peace and He is joyful God, so joy and peace are products of His nature. And, yes, all of the rest of the fruit of the Spirit – patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, etc. are all resident in that new nature that is within us!
 
Let’s look at the Amplified Bible’s classic translation of First John 3:9 because I believe it perfectly illustrates what this verse is saying: It says, “No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God’s nature abides within Him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within Him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God.”
 
Church, because we have been born of God, we have the LORD’s principle of life and His divine nature within our spirit. This changes our behavior and propels us to being godly and sharing in His characteristics.
 
THE DIVINE NATURE
 
Let’s look over at a passage of Scripture in Second Peter chapter one that goes along these same lines:
 
Second Peter 1:3-4 says that “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
 
These verses start by saying that it was “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness …” So it was His divine power (or His godly ability) that has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness. That means it was Him who gave us the opportunity and capability to experience His life and to be godly. Thank You, LORD!
 
You see, church, we don’t give ourselves these things. We were begotten again to life and godliness because, in His divine ability, He gave us all these things! Yes, this is how you and I were made partakers of God’s divine nature—through His exceedingly great and precious promises! 
 
Notice that the apostle Peter said in verse 4 that through these great promises of the gospel, we have been made partakers of God’s divine nature! So this is just another way of saying what First Peter 1:23 said – that we are born again by the Word of God.
 
The word “partakers” is important. It literally means that we have become “sharers” of something. Sharers of what? Of His “divine nature.” The word “divine” describes “divinity” and thus what is “godly.” The term “nature” comes from the Greek word where we get our English word “physical” from, and describes one’s “physical origin” – thus, our innate nature or characteristics.
 
So when you put the words “divine nature” together, we see that we have become sharers in His “godly characteristics”!
 
And let me remind you that “sharing” is when someone gives of their own to someone else, letting them partake of it as well. That’s what God did: He shared with us His godly nature, His divine characteristics. And, no, this does not make us “God,” but it does show that He made us to share in His nature by the new birth. Hallelujah!
 
Now let’s look at Ephesians chapter 4 and see a couple of the specific “divine characteristics”—the image and likeness of God Himself—that the apostle Paul said we have been given …
 
Ephesians 4:24 says, “and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
 
Notice that Paul said that this “new man which was created according to God” was created “in true righteousness and holiness.” Wow! Did you know that this was in your Bible!?! What Paul is describing this image and likeness of God that we’ve been created in as, is “true righteousness and holiness.” Therefore, saints, our new nature that we inherited from Christ through the new birth is created in God’s true image of holiness and according to His true likeness of righteousness. Amen!
 
And notice that He calls this holiness and righteousness—true righteousness and holiness. That is opposite of false righteousness and holiness—because if there is a true kind, there must also be a false one. So, what is the false kind of righteousness and holiness? That would be the man-made kind, and that is what we must strip ourselves of—that self-righteousness and man-made kind of holiness that puts its confidence in the flesh!    
 
Church, this true righteousness and holiness is something that has been given by grace and not something we grow into or something that eventually will be created in us through our own self-effort! This is how we were created at the new birth! We are not trying to become righteous or holy; we already have been created righteous and holy! Our only job now is to start putting on this new nature and spiritual identity and wearing it in our everyday lives!
 
So, this would be Trey’s Translation of Ephesians 4:24: “and dress your outer lives with the new nature you have been clothed with on the inside, which was created in God’s very own image and likeness—absolutely righteous and thoroughly holy!” Amen! 
 
 
WE’RE JUST BORN THAT WAY!
 
So what does all of this have to do with getting spiritually fit, you ask? Well, like I said, in order to get fit, strong, healthy, and in shape, you first have to be born & alive. A dead person can do nothing! Likewise, a spiritually dead person can do nothing to be spiritually fit either.
 
But the cool part of all of this is, when you are born again, you’ve got all the spiritual genes that you need to be fit, in shape, and strong in your spirit!  
 
You know, in the natural, some of us were born of parents that maybe didn’t have a lot of athletic ability and we were born with other physical disadvantages. In other words, not everyone has the same advantages as others when it comes to physical abilities. Now, on the other hand, those same people who were born with physical disadvantages might have been born with a higher IQ or other soulish qualities that give them an advantage over others in other areas.
 
My point is – not everyone is born on the same playing field. That’s because we inherit whatever our parents inherited. Some of us are gifted in certain areas, while others are gifted in other areas. So in this case, some of us sure got the short end of the stick when it came to some of these physical things.
 
And here’s the kicker: We didn’t do anything to deserve it either. It was a gift of grace from daddy & mama – meaning we were just born this way, and we didn’t have to do something right or wrong to turn out the way we did physically! That’s just how it works.
 
Well, the same is true for all of us who have been born again: We have received by grace all of the qualities, nature, characteristics, genes, and DNA of our Heavenly Father. No, we didn’t do anything to deserve it; we were just born again that way! Amen!
 
And the good news is that your Heavenly Father that you’ve been born of has ALL of the characteristics & qualities that you need to be strong and fit in the spirit. No, there are no disadvantages here! In Him, we are capable of both developing into His image and according to His likeness (Genesis 1:26)!
 
So there is no excuse for any of us who have been born from above to not become as good looking, smart, and successful as we can possibly be because the genes of our Heavenly Father are all extraordinary! There are no disadvantages to being born of God’s seed, only advantages!
 
Yes, you’ve got God’s divine nature, my friend! Spiritually speaking, you’ve got His eyes, You’ve got His hair! You’ve got His physique! You’ve got His giftings & His capabilities!  So we’ve got the foundation for being as fit & developed spiritually as we can possibly be. We all do! IF (and that’s a big IF) we’ve been born again!

INTRODUCTION
 
So on New Year’s Eve, I was thinking about the coming year and I was drawn to another “2025” that we have in the Scriptures – 2 Chronicles 20:25. So I believe that this is a Word for us on this New Year – that the LORD wants to bring us into SO MUCH in 2025.
 
This Word is certainly consistent with the LORD’s heart throughout Scripture as He is most definitely a God of increase (Psalm 115:14) and He always gives us hope for our future. But the problem is that when it comes to so many of us, we don’t seem to always find the fulfillment of these Words from the LORD.
 
Yes, far too many Christians are just wandering around in their life, never realizing their purpose nor having a vision for their life. Saints, living in this wandering and aimless state is actually a product of the curse of the law, which we are redeemed from according to Galatians 3:13.
 
Friends, the Lord wants us to know what our purpose is and wants our lives to be full of vision and focus as we press forward in fulfilling our destiny and dreams. He doesn’t want us to live lives of uncertainty and searching around blindly for what our heart is looking for. No! Having no direction and vision is a curse! God wants us to walk with clear purpose into the plans He has for us! Amen?
 
As I’ve considered this truth, I was drawn to one of our most loved verses, Jeremiah 29:11. In this beloved verse of so many, we have God’s heart concerning the plans He has for us. It says, “For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
 
THE THOUGHTS HE THINKS
 
First of all, I want you to notice that God is actually thinking about you and I … Did you know this – that the Lord actually thinks about us? Glory to God!
 
We tend to spend more time talking about our own thought life and how we are to keep our minds set on Him, but did you know that God practices what He preaches? For example, He told us to set our minds on things above, right? (see Colossians 3:2) Well, He also does this, but He sets His mind on things below (i.e. you and me)!  Praise the Lord!
 
Psalm 139:17-18 says, “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand…” Wow! Now that is a lot of thoughts! And when David wrote this, he was referring to just the thoughts that God thinks of him personally! Glory to Jesus! And did you know that since God is no respecter of persons, His thoughts are just that precious and innumerable about you too?
 
Now most Christians do not have a problem believing that God is constantly considering them; what they do have a hard time believing, however, is that those thoughts are good and positive thoughts. But again, what does Jeremiah 29:11 say that He thinks about us? “For I know the thoughts I think toward you… thoughts of good and not of evil, of peace, to give you a future and a hope.”
 
My brothers and sisters, God is not thinking evil about you! He is focusing on the good in you! And why? Because He loves you more than you can possibly imagine! You see, this fact that we are constantly on His mind reemphasizes to us a very important truth – and that is that He loves us.
 
You know, when we fall in love, one characteristic of that love is our minds become filled with that other person. We think about them all the time when we are at the height of that love. And why are we thinking so much of that person? It is because they are in our heart!
 
Saints, God actually holds us in His heart! He does not just tolerate us or make Himself have to think good things about us. No, He thinks good thoughts about us because we hold a special place in His heart! In other words, we are important to Him because you do not rent space in your heart to people or things that are not important to you. No, what is in your heart is what is valuable to you! Therefore, we must be extremely valuable to the Lord if His heart and mind are so inclined towards us! Amen!
 
PLANS FOR OUR PEACE
 
Now it should be noted that the word “thoughts” in the beginning of this verse carries more of the idea of plans, purposes, or intentions. However, we know that in order to have a plan and purpose, you must first give thought to those plans and purposes, right?
 
So the word “thoughts” is also a good word for us to consider because it shows that (as this Hebrew word is also translated in other passages of Scripture) God is “plotting, scheming and devising” a grand and glorious future for us! Amen?
 
You know, when we hear words like to “plot, scheme and devise,” we usually gear towards the negative, but that is not the case here. In the mind of God, His “scheming” revolves around our blessing! In other words, God’s thoughts towards us are thoughts that conspire for our good and welfare. Praise Jesus!
 
A good example of this is when in Genesis 50:20, Joseph said to his brothers that what they did to him, they meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. The word “meant” used in this verse twice are the same Hebrew word for “thoughts” in Jeremiah 29:11, and here we see how this word literally describes his brothers “scheming, plotting, intentions, and purposes” for evil against him but how the LORD had different “thoughts / plans” for Him.
 
You see, with man these thoughts/plans for us might not be so good. In fact, they might very well be as evil as Joseph’s brothers’, BUT GOD! But the LORD has different plans and thinks different thoughts for our future! Amen!  
 
My friends, the mind of Christ is filled with wonderful plans, purposes and intentions for your life! He has a plan for you! You might not think He does; but He does! That’s why I believe it is significant how the first part of Jeremiah 29:11 is worded…
 
Notice again that the Lord says, “For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord …” Why does He say, “For I know the thoughts…”? Evidently, it was because His people believed He was thinking something else!
 
Did you know that this is still true today? So many of God’s people have a totally incorrect perception of what God is thinking about them. They think God is harsh, critical and fault finding – always focused on our sin and shortcomings. This is why the Lord went on to say in Jeremiah 29:11 that the thoughts and plans that He knows He has for us are for peace and not of evil. Evidently this is exactly what His chosen people believed He was thinking about them – thoughts of evil. Nothing could be further from the truth!  As we have already seen, the exact opposite is true!
 
On a side note, let me show you why people think this way about God. It’s because they think that He thinks the way they think. In other words, most people will judge others according to how they would do things. If they think someone is always conspiring against them, it’s usually because they think that way. It’s tight but it’s right. 
 
You see, while God certainly is well aware of all of our faults and failures, He does not focus on the negative. No, in fact, God is focused more on our potential and His good plan for us than all of the ways that we fall short of His glory. Sure, we tend to focus on the negatives in people, but not God!
 
No, First Corinthians 13:5 tells us that love thinks no evil. Amen! Other translations say, “(love) keeps no record of wrongs,” “(love) does not count the bad” and “it doesn’t keep score of the sins of others.” So listen – if God is love (1 John 4:8), then that means that God keeps no record of wrongs, He does not count the bad things in us, and He doesn’t keep score of our sins! Amen! In fact, the Scriptures teach us that our sins and lawless deeds He remembers no more (Hebrews 10:17)! Why? It’s because He has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12)!
 
So His thoughts, plans and purpose for us are of “peace” and not of evil … Now, of course, the word “peace” comes from the Hebrew word “shalom” – which means more than simply having an absence of conflict. Shalom describes “completeness, wholeness, soundness, success and welfare.” It basically describes having nothing missing and nothing broken in our lives. So we can see that God’s thoughts and plans for our lives involve making them complete, whole, sound, successful and with nothing missing and nothing broken! Amen!
 
And not just “peace” for the present, but “peace” for our future. This is why Jeremiah went on to say that the LORD’s intentions were to give us a future and HOPE!
 
How many of you know that the LORD is called the God of Hope (See Romans 15:13)? He doesn’t just have hope to give; He IS hope! That means that, in Him, there is always hope. It doesn’t matter how impossible it may seem to us that things can turn around. It doesn’t matter how much we feel we have aborted His plans for our future. In Him, is always hope!
 
So we have clearly seen God’s heart on the matter… He has good thoughts and plans for us and for our future! His purpose for us is to live lives that are complete, whole, sound – with nothing missing and nothing broken in them – both today and forevermore! Amen and amen!
 
HOW TO WALK IN GOD’S PLAN AND PURPOSE
 
But how many of you know that not every Christian walks in the reality of this? We would be naïve to think that all of God’s children actually walk in this complete and total fulfillment of Jeremiah 29:11. We would be foolish to think that we all experience the height of His goodness and the extent of His hope. I would go as far as saying that the vast majority of God’s children do not experience what Jeremiah 29:11 describes.
 
So the question is – Why? Why do so many of God’s people not experience this wonderful hope and future that God has for them? Well, I believe the Lord has shown me that some of the reasons for this are found in this very chapter – Jeremiah chapter 29.
 
So what I want us to do today is look at a few truths listed here in Jeremiah chapter 29 because I wholeheartedly believe that in them lie some integral keys that unlock us fulfilling what God’s heart is for us to walk in.
 
You see, as it is with so many Scriptures, we tend to take these truths and lift them up out of context, and in doing so, we miss the complete picture of what God was trying to communicate to us. And Jeremiah 29:11 is no different! While so many believers can quote this verse, the vast majority of them have zero knowledge of the verses surrounding it.
 
So let’s take a look at this entire passage of Scripture and glean from the truth of God’s Word …
 
Now when you look at verses 4-28, you will notice that the margins are a little different in most of our Bibles. The reason for this is because whoever compiled Jeremiah’s prophecy wanted us to know that it is actually a letter that the prophet Jeremiah wrote to the exiles who were carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon. And the purpose of his letter was to give some specific instructions and exhortations to these exiles while they were in Babylon, which included our beloved verse 11.  
 
So let’s begin looking at this letter recorded in the Book of Jeremiah in detail and see what principles are included in it that will help us to enter into those thoughts, plans and purposes that the Lord has for us …
 
HOW TO FIND GOD’S WILL
 
I want to draw your attention first to the couple of verses that immediately follow Jeremiah 29:11.
 
Immediately after saying that He knows the thoughts He thinks towards us and that they are plans of peace, a hope and a future, the Lord says in verse 12, “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me …” Now this is significant, saints, because the word “then” shows us “when” we will call upon Him and pray to Him. And when will this be? When we start thinking the way God thinks about us! Then we will call upon Him and go and pray to Him! That’s good stuff right there!  
 
So when we truly understand that God has a good plan for our lives (i.e. we are convinced that He has a good plan with a hope and a future) we will start calling and praying to discover that plan! Thank you, Lord Jesus!
 
You see, if we are convinced that the Lord has a good plan – meaning, this truth is established in our hearts – we will seek after it. For one to say they believe God has a purpose for them, yet they never search for it with any semblance of persistence and zeal, I highly doubt that they believe in their hearts that He has something good for them. Why? Because faith without works is dead (James 2:20).
 
And this leads me to my next point: This praying and calling upon the Lord is not a passive thing either! Notice what Jeremiah said next in verse 13: He said, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
 
You know, one of the main reasons that many of God’s people do not truly uncover His plan for their lives is because they do not put their whole heart into discovering it! Sure, they hope they will discover the plan of God for them. They sure would like to know. But do they ever spend time seeking to know it? Do they get serious enough to fast and pray concerning what God’s purpose is for their lives? Sadly, not many do this. Like I said, they would like to know His plan and purpose, but they don’t love to know it! What I mean by that is they don’t want to know it to the degree that they’re willing to spend any time, effort, and energy to find it!
 
You see, God has told us time and time again in His Holy Word that when we ask, we shall receive, when we seek, we shall find, when we knock it shall be opened for us (Matthew 7:7-8)! But this asking, seeking and knocking is not just the casual – “Well, I knocked a couple of times, but no one came to the door. I guess they weren’t home, so I’ll just leave.” No, we are talking about a kind of asking, seeking, and knocking that is persistent and that is not willing to quit! Amen!
 
And it is not that God is like some old miser up in heaven who is unwilling to give you what you want until you beg enough. No, it is just that sometimes we must press through the flesh to uncover the riches of the Spirit! Amen!
 
So, yes, a foundational key to discovering God’s plan and purpose for you is to begin seeking Him for that plan with all of your heart! Amen?
 
But what do you do while you are seeking and searching? That is a great question; I’m glad I asked it.
 
Let’s go back to the beginning of this letter and see what specific instructions the Lord gave to these exiles through Jeremiah …
 
STEP #1- BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED
 
In the beginning of this letter, Jeremiah starts out by addressing them – “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon” (Verse 4).
 
It’s important to understand that it wasn’t the LORD’s plan for this. Just looking at this isolated verse can give one the impression that He instigated their being carried away into captivity, but no, it was their own numbskull decisions that got them in this predicament. As was usually the case with the children of Israel (and us too), our choices to not do things God’s way oftentimes lead to the struggles we experience in life. 
 
So always remember – if we are experiencing something that is consistent with what the Bible calls a curse, then it’s not God’s will for us. In this case, it was His chosen people who willed it, not God.
 
Then in verses 5-6, Jeremiah goes on to immediately exhort the people to build houses and plant gardens, to take spouses and beget sons and daughters. He was basically telling them to continue living the way they would even though they were not in their home of Jerusalem.
 
At the end of verse 6 he says, “… that you may be increased there, and not diminished.”
 
It’s important to understand that he LORD is always about us increasing, no matter if we are in the penthouse or the outhouse. In this case, they were in the cellar for sure. Yet, even though they were in a less than desirable place in bondage in Babylon, the LORD still encouraged them to increase, multiply, and prosper – showing us that even if we are not in the job we want, even if we don’t have the ministry we desire, or even if we don’t have the marriage we’ve always wanted, that we don’t need to wait to put our best foot forward. Press in to let the LORD increase you where you are at, even if the end result right now is someone else’s prosperity.
 
A good example of this is Joseph when he was enslaved to Potipher and in prison in Egypt. It didn’t matter where Joseph was or what undesirable situation he was in, he always did things with excellence and saw increase as a result. And, of course, we know what this led to – him experiencing his “Jeremiah 29:11.” Amen?    
 
The children of Israel did the same when they were in Egypt, didn’t they? From the days of Joseph to the days of Moses, they increased & multiplied in the Land of Egypt. Exodus chapter one talks about how they were “exceedingly fruitful” and how they “multiplied greatly.” They did this when times were good (when Joseph was around) and they kept doing it when times were bad (when they were oppressed by the Egyptians). 
 
So my point is that here is a good first step to fulfilling your purpose and vision – bloom where you are planted!
 
You see, human nature tends towards not putting its best foot forward if it does not have a controlling interest in the place that it is planted. In other words, we tend to take better care of our baby than we do of someone else’s baby. But if God has put us somewhere – whether that be in a job, a church etc. - then our goal should be to show the same diligence that we would if it were our own business or our own ministry.
 
In Ephesians chapter 6 we see similar exhortations to those of us who are serving under the umbrella of another… Beginning in verse 5, Paul addresses “bondservants.” Now the following exhortations can apply to anyone who is under the authority of someone else. He goes on to tell them – “be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.” So what we see here is the heart attitude we should have when serving is that we are ultimately serving the Lord, not the man.
 
Now there is a reason that this exhortation is in the Bible, and do you know why that is? It’s because the vast majority of people do not do their job or serve in their churches with this attitude. Most people are men-pleasers and as long as someone is looking, recognizing their hard work etc. they will get the job done, but the moment eyes are turned away from them, they give a lack luster effort.
 
As it has been said in the world – “Dress for the job you want, not for the job you’ve got.” This goes for not only how you dress, but the attitude and effort that you dress yourself with in your current situation. Friends, promotion comes neither from the east nor from the west; promotion comes from the Lord! (see Psalm 75:6) But one of the main reasons I see that the vast majority do not get promoted by the Lord is because they are not truly working for the Lord; they are working for man.
 
So my point is that when we are currently in a situation where we are serving another man’s plan, purpose and vision, do it heartily as unto God, not unto man! Take ownership and put your best foot forward, knowing that as Ephesians 6:8 goes on to promise us – “whatever good any one does, he will receive the same from the Lord.” In other words, work hard for the authorities God has put in your life like you are serving Christ Himself. Then you will position yourself for promotion! Amen?
 
STEP #2- SEEK THE PEACE OF THE CITY
 
Yes, Jeremiah 29:4-6 tells us to live life to the full even if we are in Babylon. Don’t quit! Work heartily as unto the Lord in whatever situation you might currently be in. Trust the Lord to bless the work of your hands and to prosper whatever you set your hands unto. However, human nature is to simply gripe and complain about the way things currently are. Let me explain …
 
They let their discontentment affect their attitude. Not only do they not do their work as unto the Lord and bloom where they are planted, but they despise it.
 
You see, so many people despise the day of small beginnings, and the Scriptures teach us not to do so (See Zechariah 4:10). Now we all might tend to think we are not doing that, but I imagine the LORD might think we are guilty of this if we are not working diligently under the vision of someone else. So since we are unhappy with the thing that we are currently setting our hand to do, we do not show the same diligence and effort that we would if we had the job, family, ministry etc. that we desire. And this “despising” is so much more subtle than most realize. It causes offense that most never realize. A root of bitterness can spring up that defiles. And then we’ve got a heart that is ladened with weeds, briars, thorns, etc. that affect the issues of our life. 
 
This is why I believe Jeremiah went on to say in Jeremiah 29:7, “And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.” Wow! There is so much we can learn from this verse!
 
What he was saying here is to actually, genuinely seek the peace of the city of their captors! That would be Babylon! That would be like us here in America being overthrown by another country and being carried away to that country to be servants there, and then the Lord telling us to seek the peace & welfare of that nation while we are there. I can only imagine what you might be thinking after reading that. Most of us are saying in our hearts – “Ain’t no way!” Well, that’s your problem. We have to be willing to do whatever the Lord tells us to do even if everything in our flesh & mind are completely opposed to it. In this case, it was a big part of the Lord leading them to those good plans He had for them.
 
You know, one of the most obvious ways that we have done this is with our own government here in the United States. So many people (including Christians) have been so disenchanted with the state of our country for years. And while I do not disagree with the fact that we need a major change and intervention from God in the United States of America, this does not mean we should be sitting around and cursing our nation because we don’t like how things are going. This is not “seeking the peace of the city” that Jeremiah was talking about. Complaining about it is not praying for it. No, if we are seeking the peace of our country and genuinely praying for it, then the poor attitude towards things will be absent.
 
And Jeremiah even went as far as telling them why it was so important to do this. It was because “for in its peace you will have peace.”
 
This reminds me of First Timothy chapter 2 where the apostle Paul taught us to pray for all men, especially the kings and all who are in authority. And why? “… that you may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” (First Timothy 2:2).
 
Now if you know anything about history, you know that the ones he was talking about praying for here were the Romans. Yes, Rome was the oppressing city where the kings (i.e. emperors) and all who were in authority resided.
 
So essentially what Paul was showing his readers to do here was to seek the peace of Rome and the other Roman provinces, to pray for Caesar, his governors, etc. And this exhortation was made just before some of the worst, most ungodly Emperors that Rome had ever known would come into power.
 
I wonder if the Holy Spirit might have been inspiring the apostle Paul to write this because He knew what was on the horizon if they didn’t. And I wonder if the church just ignored this or did it half-heartedly. I think both of these are very likely.
 
So do you know what this teaches me? The reason why we don’t experience a quiet and peaceable life is not because of the king and those in authority, but because of the church’s failure to pray for the king and those in authority. Amen or Oh me? You see, we need to be praying for the peace of Jerusalem (absolutely!), but we also need to be praying for the peace of whatever place that we live in! Amen? For in praying for its peace, we will have peace!
 
But this also goes for praying for your family, your job, your church etc.  Saints, there are countless employees out there who are griping and complaining about how much they make in their job, but what if instead of them complaining, they would start using that same energy to pray for the success and prosperity of their employer? Do you think that just maybe if they started prospering, they would have more to pay you? Just maybe! But somebody will say, “Yeah well, they wouldn’t pay me any extra anyways.” But again, who is your employer? It’s ultimately the Lord! He is who we are to be serving whole-heartedly! So then, He is the One who can give us the raise that we desire by moving upon our employers’ hearts or by supplying our needs another way! Amen!
 
So pray for the place that you are in. Pray for the peace and prosperity of those around you - genuinely and from the heart, seeking their welfare. For, as this Scripture promises, in their peace, we will find our peace!
 
STEP #3- DON’T LISTEN TO HANANIAH!
 
Then Jeremiah goes on to exhort the people in verses 8-9 to not listen to the wrong voices …
 
He says in these verses – “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord.”
 
You see, there was a false prophet in Jeremiah’s day that was speaking lies to the people. If you go back to Jeremiah chapter 28, you will see where a man by the name of Hananiah was prophesying to the priests and all of the people that the Lord was going to bring them and all of their stuff back to Jerusalem in 2 years. The gist of his message was that they do not need to get too comfortable in Babylon – for the Lord was going to break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar from them soon.
 
Now while I’m sure these were comforting words in the ears of all the people and words their flesh wanted to hear, they were not accurate. In fact, in his letter to the exiles, Jeremiah gave them the true Word of the Lord that after 70 years are completed in Babylon, the Lord would bring them back to their own land (See Jeremiah 29:10). In other words, the truth he was giving them was that probably all of them were going to die in Babylon and their children or children’s children would be the ones to return to Jerusalem.
 
Now, as history has taught us, Jeremiah’s words were not appreciated very much. Why? Because people want to hear what they want to hear. Their flesh doesn’t like receiving things that don’t cater to convenience, pleasure, etc.
 
And church, this is something we need to guard our hearts against when we are in those days of small beginnings while we are on the way to the hope & future that the LORD has for us.
 
Now these “prophets & diviners” are not always flesh & blood. Sure, it can be a video on YouTube, a preacher on television, or a newscaster on the radio, but sometimes it is the voices on the inside of us or what we dream up on our own. This is why Jeremiah wrote – “nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.” That indicates that some of the things we imagine were conjured up by us.
 
Friends, when we are in our “Babylon,” we need to be careful not to heed the voices that we hear on the inside of us. For the flesh and soul love to feed us lies that enforce impatience and not remaining planted. We need to be careful not to feed those deceptions and uproot ourselves prematurely before the fruit can begin to come forth from the seed sown. This is a huge temptation that we need to resist – not to fight against or uproot ourselves prematurely before the fruit of God’s purpose can be produced in and through us!
 
CONCLUSION
 
Friends, these are just a few ways that you and I can be sure to stay on the path to entering into God’s plans and what He is thinking for our lives.
 
These are some good New Year’s resolutions for you – No, it’s not to lose weight or to become more organized. It’s to …
 
1.Be convinced that God is thinking good thoughts about you, and He has a bright future ahead for you!
2.Start searching for his plans for you with all of your heart – that is, spending time in your prayer closet seeking His face with the aim of obtaining His thoughts!
3.Bloom where you are planted – working as unto the Lord with all of your might!
4.Seek the peace of the place you are currently in and pray for those around you to fulfill their glorious future as well.
5.Not listen to those “Hananiah’s” who would try to convince us to move and uproot ourselves from our place called there!
 
Do these things and I will give you an unconditional guarantee that you will discover your purpose!