Author: debo

This week we are talking about being spiritually and physically fit. As Christians, we need to prepare and compete like an athlete, just like an Olympian would. You might be thinking that you are not an athelete, so this doesn’t apply to you. Guess what I Tim 4:7 says? We are supposed to exercise ourself to godliness! Athletes exercise, so you are a spiritual athlete! It’s time to get fit! We can strive for mastery over our bodies, by putting them under, and we can be winners in life! It is time to flex our spiritual muscles, and become stronger when adversity comes your way. Refuse to be a complainer. Refuse to be a whiner. Fast negativity of all kinds! Remove words from your vocabulary that bring you to a negative place. Fill up on good stuff so that there is no room for bad stuff. Choose to build and lift. Any words that destroy, steal or damage do not allow to come out of your mouth. Soldiers exercise hard, and are in training. I’ve never been to boot camp, but talk about being stretched….it is all about finding the tough ones who will endure hardship like a good soldier. When things get hard, it is time to flex your spiritual muscles and use your faith to see circumstances change. You can say this with me, All things are possible, God’s grace is sufficient for me, I am well able, It will be worth it, God will supply all of my needs, God will never leave me, I am more than a conqueror. I am becoming physically fit, and spiritually fit to win in life!

One of the cutest things I’ve ever seen is a little tiny girl, under 1 year of age, with her physical eye on a ball. Her daddy said, “Sweetheart, put your eye on the ball,” and she did just that. Can we take the Word of God that literally? God does want us to keep our eye focused on Him. We are to keep Him in our sights all the time. We have this tendency to get distracted by the things of this world, and the cares of this world, but we are to have a single eye. We are to be single minded, or single focused. Let’s stay in focus. I got glasses as a 13 year old, and was just amazed that you could see leaves on trees, and that details of things far away could be clearly in focus. Before I knew any better, I thought everyone saw like my eyes were used to seeing. But get the lens you need in front of your eye, and whala….you see things in a very different light. What can be blurring your focus? Is there something that is distracting you, or making it hard for you to see clearly? Are there perceptions or belief systems that shade or skew your view? Are there confusing points of view that are trying to pry you from the truth that you know? Let’s keep our eye clearly focused, and then let’s keep our eye on the prize. We don’t want to miss out on a reward because we never made it to the finish line. Let’s make it to the finish line, without distractions, keeping our eye on the ball.

We have all heard the statement, that there is no “I” in team. The very word “team” means that there is more than one person working together. There is great power in teamwork. Once we’re born again, we have joined a great team, the family of God, and it is very cool that we have great benefits for our lifetime because we are on a God’s team. We’ll be talking this week about being spiritually and physically fit. Both are very important because we are on a team, and just like a runner in an Olympic relay medley, we don’t want to be the one teammate that holds everyone back, that tires out, or drops the baton. It’s no fun being the weakest link. Our desire to be strong. God wants us to be spiritually fit because we have a race to run, and he wants us to obtain the prize at the finish line. We want to be physically fit, because we want to live productively until we make it to the finish line! So let’s be fit for life. How do we do that? There are so many different opinions, and each expert gives different advice. I know one thing that simplifies everything. For food choices, eat food that God made as close to how God made them….fruits, vegetables, grains, meat that is as close to nature as possible. For exercise, the best advice I’ve ever heard is to move more. A good mantra is move more, eat less. If we consume less calories than we burn, do the math, the weight will come off. I know there can be extenuating circumstances, but let’s get fit, spiritually and physically. Then let’s stay, fit for life! It’s possible and I know we can do it!

Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with an encouraging word for your day. As summer time keeps rolling along, and the Summer Olympics have just ended, I thought it would be good to focus on getting in shape! We are so proud of Will Brown an AGF member who place 12th and 10th in his Olympic shooting events. Way to go Will! Being an Olympian takes discipline and getting fit does too. I know it sounds like hard work, but if we want to be strong and fit and live a long healthy life, we need to get in shape. If we want to run the race well for God, we need to be in shape spiritually too. Let’s do both! Here is your dailyeword.

I can hear you breathing a sigh of relief. Whew! You’re thinking, spiritually in shape – I can do that! We definitely need to be strong from the inside out. But, I do think both are important. We need to be in shape spiritually. We should know what we believe, why we believe it, and be people who put our faith into action and are doers of the Word. At the same time, we do need to be in shape physically, because if we want to fulfill our purpose on this earth, we need to be healthy enough for our physical heart to keep on ticking.

I know most of you would probably be appalled if one of our pastors stood up in the pulpit with a cigarette in his mouth, puffing away. What is surprising is that we don’t even give it a second thought if he would be 100 pounds overweight and preaching in the pulpit. We think smoking is way worse for us. What is interesting is that just recently, the largest percentage of deaths in America changed from being a result of smoking, to being a result of heart disease, often a symptom of being overweight. YIKES!!!! There are more diseases that are a result of overeating than any other indicator. We as a population are just way too fat and lazy. Lest you think I am casting stones, I know the pain of being overweight. It is easy to go to food for comfort, or to ease stress, or even to cover up for pain. Because of our busy lifestyles, we often choose convenience food over healthy food. We should be choosing health over convenience. I’ve done it, and I’m sure you have too. If we want to run our race, and make it to the finish line, not only do we have to be faithful to God in our spiritual life, we need to be faithful to God in our physical life. Let’s set aside those weights that so easily beset us, and run the race, and make it to the finish line, healthy and strong. We can get to heaven sick, but we don’t have to. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to put the words old and sick together. Let’s contend for health to our dying day. Let’s be old, wise, experienced, and healthy, making the most of every day, so that we can live long on the earth and fulfill our personal assignment here on earth, doing what God has purposed for us to accomplish.

Today as we close the week, we are going to talk about patience with our words. Because we know the power that words can have, when we demonstrate impatience often the result is angry words. One very common place to see frustration boil into anger is in the home. Families raise their voices in anger, and soon chaos, confusion and division results. Another place that I’ve seen frustration boil into anger is in airports. Having traveled often by air, I have watched people lash out and curse at airline attendants for things that they have no control over, like the weather or a mechanical delay. I am always amazed that those who are reacting in anger don’t consider how they are viewed by other people who also have to wait. We all understand that there are inconveniences that happen. The very thing that can be a big blessing and a time saver, flying to your destination, becomes a nuisance. The same thing happens with cell phones. As much of a blessing and a convenience they can be, when they don’t work as designed, people loose patience and get angry. As a reminder as we close this topic, I want you to think about situations or people who make you impatient. As a bit of homework, every time you feel inconvenienced by them or it, make a special effort to be extra patient in return. Not only are you sowing good seed, you are using your words and actions to prove that the love of God is in you and is coming out of you by your actions, and in this specific instance through patience. God is at work in you. You are changing from the inside out, and there is evidence that God’s love is flowing through you by the patience you live out.

We talked a little about hurry yesterday, and how it can be the enemy of patience. John Wooten who was a basketball coach at UCLA had a saying that many of his players remember well. He would say, be quick, but don’t hurry. Often it is very important to act quickly, but to be hasty can be wasted energy. We have probably all learned that haste makes waste. That was probably one of my dad’s favorite saying. Slow and steady wins the race. Be methodical, and exercise patience with everyone. Having patience can increase the pleasure we have in our relationships. Kids spell love TIME, but adults do too. When we take time for the relationships we have in our life, we are really saying I love you enough to take the time necessary to value you. When we exercise patience in tough situations we will reap the benefits of in the long run. Bailing out, pressuring up, and walking out mad is all too common in our world. It we want to let patience have her perfect work, it means work, and work takes time, a lot of the time. Make a choice to be patient can be one of the most efficient choices we make.” If we think hurrying around makes us more efficient, we are wrong! So how can you react in situations when you are tempted to make a hasty decision, or hastily respond? We can choose patience. Why not make the choice today, to let patience have her perfect work in you, and become a person who is known for patience, or perhaps better said, a person who is known for letting God’s love operate in you by being a patient person!

When we are patient, we are acknowledging that people and relationship are more important than schedules and our daily planner. Very often interruptions in our day, can be God interruptions. Just recently, I was hurrying into a store to get something that needed to be delivered within the hour, and I ran into 2 separate people who definitely were God appointments. Those are divine moments when you know it was on purpose that you had the opportunity to encourage somebody. They weren’t on my schedule, and I hadn’t put them in my daily planner, but wow, I’m so glad I didn’t pass up those God moments. It did make someone who was waiting on me have to be patient, and thankfully, they were. Maybe you’ve heard this said. Hurry isn’t of the devil, it is the devil! I think you understand the sentiment. When we plan our days so tightly, or when our life is in chaos because we are running around harried all the time, we can be making everyone else have to be patient with us! Let’s be realistic about how much we can accomplish – I just looked through my to do list for today, and I may be preaching to me! Usually when we do practice patience, our productivity increases! Sometimes when productivity decreases in an employee, they may be going through something in their personal life that is overwhelming. Instead of just letting them go, it may be better to practice patience and find out what is going on in their world. One of the most dramatic illustration of not knowing what is happening in someone’s life was told in this story. A man was on the subway with his 3 children on a Sunday afternoon, and his children were unruly and he was doing nothing about it. A woman sitting near them scolded him for not controlling his children. He gently and patiently commented back to her that they just left the hospital where his wife had passed away. Thud moment. You never know what people are going through. Let’s be the ones who show love and patience to each person we meet.

Today we are going to talk about the process of developing patience. In our earth suits, our skin, our humanity, we have this tendency to be self-centered. Have you noticed that in other people? In the process of producing patience in our spiritual walk, self-centeredness can become a huge stumbling block. If we continue to be selfish and self-centered, those narcissistic tendencies will keep us from developing patience. Selfishness really is the root of all sin, but if we can kick ourselves off the throne of our own life, and put God there, we will see amazing changes in our behavior. So moving away from selfishness, and toward selfLESSness is one of the first steps in the process of becoming a patient person. Another step is beginning to break old impatient habits. How do you typically respond in frustrating situations? Why not do something in the natural that reminds you to be patient. How about counting, covering your mouth, taking a minute to think before you respond, or simply leaving the area for a moment. When you have a plan in place of what you will do when the frustrating situation arises, you can act on your plan instead of reacting in your flesh. Give yourself some tools to work with. One great tool that replaced negative habits with a positive one was from a man who said this before he started any conversation that might be sensitive. “I want to state this positively, because I cherish you and I value our relationship”. Those same words could change every conversation you participate in. What are some ways to develop patience? 1) By rooting out selfishness, 2)having a plan in place, and 3)then starting sensitive conversations stating things positively, filled with love and respect. Those are some great tools to put into your relationship tool belt.

This week we will be looking at patience as one of the characteristic that this world needs more of. In I Thes 5:14, we are told to be patient with everyone. I know for me, there are some people in my world that make it easy to patient. It is easy to be patient with those who are patient with us! Others are a challenge! No matter who we are dealing with, maybe its your kids, your mate or your boss, we believe operating in patience has the potential to change us from the inside out. Outside in has never worked. When there is a change of heart, then there can be a change of attitude, and then a change of action. I want to challenge you to develop the habits of operating in patience and be made over into the image of Jesus, so the we can begin to change our world. Patience is challenging! But when we make it a habit to act in patience, the image of Jesus will be visible in us! How awesome to be made over into His likeness. The happens when we don’t only love in word, but also in deed! So when it comes to patience, we can realize that nobody is perfect, and expecting perfection really is unrealistic. Why do we expect perfection? It may be that we are trained to look for imperfections. We don’t purchase anything with flaws, and to admit that we have flaws, and those around us do too, is hard on our pride. It may be that we just haven’t determined that a patient person is now who we are in Christ, and how we act once we have come into relationship with a loving and patient God. We can change! Let’s let patience have its perfect work in us.

Mon 15
Intro:
I want to thank my daughter Leah for being the guest host of my blog for the last two weeks. While I was away, my new granddaughter arrived! Being a grandparent is wonderful! With what is going on in our world, now is a good time to talk about how to show love better to each other. Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. As we continue this journey, thank you for joining us. Together we can make love a way of life, and positively change our world. One key ingredient to love is patience. We know the scripture from I Corinthians 13, love is patient, love is kind. Here is your encouraging word about patience for today.

This week we will be looking at patience as one of the key characteristics of a loving person. I have heard patience described this way; patience is accepting the imperfections of others. We are not perfect, and neither is anyone else. Probably one of the biggest places we can use more patience is in traffic. Frustration and aggravation happens more in traffic than we can even imagine. Whenever anything stops up the normal flow, drivers get impatient. Patience is accepting imperfections not just in people, but in all of life. Things don’t go perfectly all the time. Situations don’t turn our perfectly. People don’t respond perfectly, or act perfectly in each endeavor. So we get to choose to walk in love and respond patiently, even in the midst of imperfections in life. If we get impatient with inanimate objects, is it any surprise that we are impatient and act unbecomingly toward people? So how do you rate on the patience scale? Let’s say 1 is the worst and 10 is best. It may be hard to admit, but many of us, are at the bottom end of the patience scale. If you are one who consistently gets impatient, don’t be disheartened. Everyone is a work in progress, including you! This might be one of the most challenging characteristics to work on. It may be because we like instant gratification, and being patient takes patience! As we study patience this week, I believe that you are becoming more like our creator, who has been more than patient with us all!