P90X of Spiritual Life

Hello again friend. I know it has been quite a few days since my last post. In the meantime, we all celebrated a holiday, Independance Day (unless of course you are reading this and you aren't american-lol). We made a trip to Tupelo on the 3rd and had our $12 Olan Mills pictures made.

They turned out pretty cute I think...although I really loathe most studio portraits. They usually seem to lack some element of real life...but karis definately brought life to the studio! After we got our pictures taken we went to a place called Ballard Park in Tupelo where they were having a big family day for the 4th. It was so beautiful there. It was a huge park with trees, a lake, a huge permanent stage, ducks, a huge track with really soft grass in the middle lol, and sidewalk trails. It was a nice day in the park, and then they had fireworks. Karis was very excited when she saw the moon finally in the sky because," The fireworks were comin'"...She loved it:) the soft grass:)

Mr Duck

So-- because we celebrated the 4th on the 3rd...we didn't really do anything on the 4th. It was so nice though:)

On to another topic--the P90X of spiritual life. Some of you are saying, "What the heck is P90X?" Well, my friend, here's a link where you can read about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/p90x ... Go ahead...read the 2 paragraphs from wikipedia if you don't know what it is.

Ok-- so we're on this journey with Jesus. Exiting. Hard. Happy. Thrilling. Steady. Never the same. Constant. Frustrating. Peaceful.Glorious. Those are just a few words that could describe it. There is also a new way I have started to descibe it... Jesus is to my spiritual body what P90X would be to my physical body. (In this statement, I am going on the word of others who have used P90x--I'm not tough enough...lol)

This relationship with Him is challenging our every thought. Every desire. Every action. Every motivation. Each day Eric and I read Matthew 5, 6 and/or 7. (I usually read all 3 chapters every day and Eric reads them like one a day or something). That to say- the Sermon on the Mount is an integral component of our everyday lives. We have made it a point to read and become extremely familiar with this incredible life changing three chapters. The thing is-- when it starts getting written on your heart, and you really have to start applying this stuff to your life, therein comes the "P90X" of christianity.

Aside from the obvious fact, that this program is extremely intense, one of the major components of P90X, that is different from the majority of other exercise programs, is the implementing of certain exercises to create "muscle confusion". This muscle confusion is what creates such great physical results in your body. Muscle confusion "Prevents the body from adapting to exercises over time, resulting in continual improvement without plateaus". Lately we have felt this "muscle confusion" idea at work in our spiritual lives...You get some revelation of something that needs to be cut away in your life, and once you cut that away there's another something that needs to be cut away. In this pursuit, God is continually adapting our process in order that we have continual improvement, with no flat plateaus.

"But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the glory of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18

He takes us from glory to glory...from one place to another in Him. This process is is set up to work for us, if we can walk in it. And so the Sermon on the Mount is definately confusing my muscles. Eric and I are also reading 2 books by Leonard Ravenhill...who, by the way, I think is a must read for any Christian. One of the books is called 'Why Revival Tarries' and the other is called 'America is Too Young to Die'. He definately was a prophet of our day calling the church back to Jesus. Again though, for us, it is a tough pill to swallow. It's easy to read Matthew 5,6, and 7 and agree. Its easy to read Ravenhill and say yes and Amen. It is something completely different to walk out what you are saying you believe. Read Matt 5,6 and 7 for a taste of what Jesus says our lives should look like. Here's a small taste of Ravenhill ...

" No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. The pulpit can be a shop window to display ones talents; the prayer closet allows no showing off." ... ..."Can any deny that in the modern church setup the main cause of anxiety is money? Yet, that which tries the modern churches most, troubled the New Testament church the least. Our accent is on paying, theres was on praying. When we have paid, the place is taken; when they had prayed, the place was shaken...For this kind of prayer there is no substitute. We do it- or die!"

I am looking forward to the results of this spiritual P90X...keep pressing into Jesus.

Until next time-