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Have you ever heard anyone say, don’t set your expectations too high, because you’ll be disappointed? I’ve heard that said before and that statement makes me sad. I love making big goals, and having high aspirations. I want to aim high and go for excellence in life. You’ve probably also heard it said, if you aim at nothing you will hit it every time. I think we as Christians need to set a high standard in the world. Not only should we have integrity, character and good manners, I think we should be a cut above at our jobs, in industry, and in the marketplace. We have the God of the universe living within us, and we sometimes settle for so much less than God’s best for us. One statement I hate hearing is….”it’s good enough”, or “it’ll do.” To me those statements mean we’re not going to do any more than we absolutely have to do. We want to just get by. Our standards should be much better than that! I also hate to hear anyone justify their actions by saying, “Everyone else is doing it, so why shouldn’t I?” Our standard becomes what others are doing, not what God’s Word tells us to do, or God’s standard of excellence and righteousness. I want to encourage you to have high aspirations…dream big, believe big, achieve big, for our Great Big GOD

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? You are to exercise yourself 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 your 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 from your lips. 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. 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.

You’ve probably 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. We 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, and 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 with the Summer Olympics starting soon, I thought it would be good to focus on getting in shape! Don’t tune me out, I know it sounds like work, but if we want to be strong and fit, we need to get in shape. If we want to run the race well for God, we need to be in shape spiritually. Just DO IT! Here is your dailyeword.

Monday
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 your pastor 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 standing 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 overweight. YIKES!!!! That is amazing. There are more diseases that are a result of overeating than any other indicator. We as a population are just way too fat and I hate to say the word…..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. Back to what we’re talking about….if we want to run the 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. Let’s be healthy to our dying day. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to get sick when you get older. Let’s be old (experienced!) and healthy, making the most of every day, so that we can live long on the earth and fulfill our personal assignment here doing what God has purposed for us to accomplish.

We’ve been talking about areas in our physical lives that can be improved by practicing good stewardship in our bodies. Let’s try to sum it all up!.Good body health depends on good nutrition, good sleep, less stress, and daily exercise. James 1:22 tells us to put into action what we know we should do. We often attribute that only to spiritual things, but the natural things do affect the spiritual things. When it comes to good stewardship of our physical bodies, it all boils down to three things, which actually affect every area of our life. 1) Are we believing and thinking right? 2)Are we speaking right? 3) And are we acting or doing right? Right believing leads to right speaking, which leads to right doing. It comes from the inside out, not the outside in! There is that verse again….Know what you should do, and then do it. Sometimes I think we would rather have a supernatural healing than have the discipline to live healthy. Sad isn’t it. We want the quick fix pill, or the program that will take care of it quickly when simply being consistent and disciplined can may be the best answer of all. Let’s be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. We know what is right to do. So let’s do it! Why not say this with me:
My body is God’s temple
I treat it with respect and awe
My body is healthy
My mind is renewed
My actions are proof
That my body is valuable and precious
To God and to me
Be blessed and encouraged today!

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Hi kids, this is Dorette with your dailyeword for kids. Hope you are enjoying summer and getting out to play and have fun. Today we are talking about your body which God calls His temple. Let’s take care of God’s temple by exercising our body! Here is your eword for kids today.

Eword for Kids
Saturday
This week, I’ve had all the adults who listen to eword evaluate their lives in the area of their physical body. I’m not gonna let you kids off the hook! I want you to evaluate how well you are treating your body. We are supposed to be good stewards of our bodies, and the most important reason for that is because Jesus calls our bodies the temple of the Holy Spirit. That means that God lives on the inside of us after Jesus comes to live in our heart. So your body is a royal home. Do you treat it like someone might treat the White House, or the palace where the Queen of England lives? We know that those places are extremely well taken care of, and God is much more important than those who live in either of those houses. So to keep our temple in shape, we have to move. How much exercise are you getting each day? Get outside and play! To stay well nourished and healthy, we have to each right. How much do you include fruits and veggies in your diet? Why not add some more? Think about these questions too. Do you get enough sleep? Do you shut off your cell phone, your computer and TV so you can get adequate rest? Do you let stuff build up and have a blow up, or do you know how to regulate the stress in your life by giving it to Jesus? Do you drink enough water? I know some of these things are natural things, but they do affect every part of your life, because without breath in your body, there is no life. We need to value and protect this wonderful body that God has given you. So start today. Your life can only get better!

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I know lots of Christians who love the scripture in I Tim 4:8 that say says bodily exercise profits little. Maybe they think that is God’s approval for being a lazy bone couch potato! The rest of the verse goes on to say, but godliness is always profitable. So in comparison to physical exercise, godliness ranks way higher. I can say a hearty amen to that. The best of both worlds is to be godly and live in a healthy body that gets adequate exercise. The longer we live a healthy life on this earth, the longer we can affect eternity on this side of glory! So how can we do this? I know there are Christian who wouldn’t miss one day of exercise, but don’t open the Word of God, or talk to God on any kind of regular basis. Why not do both! You can even incorporate some of it together. Why not pray and walk. Or exercise to praise and worship music and sing along. You can even put the Bible on your ipod and listen while you walk or work out. I think it does come down to daily discipline. If we want to be good stewards of our yard, we mow the grass and pull the weeds. If we want to be good stewards in our home, we clean up and put things away. If we want to be good stewards of our money, we give, we save and we then we spend. We can be disciplined and benefit all the areas of our life. If we want to be good stewards of our physical body, let’s move it! You can do it…..I know you can.

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You’ve probably heard people say things like this, I carry stress in my neck, or I grind my teeth when I’m stressed. Some people eat when they are stressed. Some people don’t eat when they are stressed. Some people cry or get angry. It is amazing that something that affects our emotions can cause our bodies to react in a physical way. Totally stress free living is probably impossible, but we can practice good stewardship over our bodies by learning how to best manage the stresses in our lives. We really are too blessed to live stressed! I love it that Jesus said he came to release burdens, and to make our load lighter! He came to ease our stress. He didn’t deny that there would be stress, in fact it says in John that in this world we will have trouble…..but He tells us repeatedly, be of good cheer, get happy, live with less stress (my translation!) because He has overcome the world. The power of the world’s negativity doesn’t have to be attached to you. Doom and gloom and agony may be all around, but we are the redeemed. If you look in the natural, you can get discouraged. But let’s look at the big picture. The stresses of this life are temporary. We know the end of the book. We can always operate in the joy of the Lord, even in the midst of crummy circumstances. So instead of carrying your stress, why not let Jesus carry it! He tells us to cast all of our cares on Him. Give them all to Jesus, and he will help you de- stress! So don’t be distressed! Rest in Him.

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Good night, sleep tight and pleasant dreams to you. Is that a reality in your life, or is that just make believe! In our family, we wish everyone a good night by saying sclaf im himmlisher ruhe, which means sleep in heavenly peace. I know that for lots of people good sleep and good rest for their physical bodies is hard to acquire. Thankfully, I can always sleep well! My husband jokes that I could sleep on a raft in the middle of the ocean. He and I are on opposite sides of the scale. I sleep incredibly well, and restful sleep is hard for him to find. He keeps talking about building a sleeping chamber….whatever!!!! I do know that sleep is a blessing, and that God wants us to have restful sleep. It’s really easy to be a grumpy old bear if you haven’t slept well! Do you want better rest? Is there anything you can do to get better sleep? Maybe! The world has all kinds of great suggestions, and most of them are right on. Like these: Don’t overly stimulate your brain before bedtime. Turn off the tv and computer at least 2 hours before going to bed. Don’t eat just before going to sleep. Make your bedroom a sanctuary. (I really like that suggestion) With all the natural help that is available, it comes down to doing what we know we should do. I know that there are medical interventions available, and praise God if those help you. But if we want to simplify things down….let’s be healthy, eat right, breath deeply, live with less stress, make our lives simpler, and then believe God for His blessed rest. He tells us to enter into His rest. Let’s believe for good sleep and good rest each and every night.

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