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Six months ago I started a serious fitness plan. I had gained weight, and I was watching guys my age pack on pounds. Because I have some big dreams that will take several more years to achieve, I need to stay healthy and able to travel. So I talked to some friends about their workout routines, joined a gym and changed my eating habits. The hard work is paying off. I've not only lost weight and gained muscle but I've learned some valuable spiritual lessons in the process. God speaks to me even while I do planks, sit-ups and bench presses! Here are 10 lessons I've learned that will help you get fit both physically and spiritually.
"Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain. It is beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth. Like the utmost heights of Zaphon is mount Zion, the city of the Great King." Psalm 48:1 NIV The High and lofty place of Zion embodies the character of God, His attributes and the very essence of His being. The Mountain of Zion is the great edifice of the Temple of God. The work of building the Temple has been the climb up this great Mountain to the Throne of God. "This is the law of the temple: All the surrounding area on top of the mountain will be most holy" (Ez. 43:12). Zion inspires, challenges and moves the heart of man to aspire to greatness, to break through impossibilities and accomplish great feats in the Spirit of God.
There seems to be a common struggle going on in the lives of many in the Body of Christ, especially during this past year. It seems as if we've been contending for breakthrough to no avail in various areas without witnessing it manifest all too quickly. Although this contending can sometimes become frustrating, it's important to keep in mind the analogy of the chipping away of a very large and dense slab of concrete/rock. With each striking of the rock, although you may not see a tremendous amount of breakthrough, little by little, blow by blow, it becomes more weakened and eventually with persistence, it will give way and break in two. The thicker the substance and the more solid it is, will obviously require a greater amount of strength and effort to break it apart.
As I sat the other morning, I heard the Lord say " A Breach in The Garden." Lord, what exactly do you mean? I thought. I was lead to read Genesis Chapter 3: Particularly versus 6-10: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.
There is a lot swirling around in politics, nations and in the spiritual realm right now. There is a general call to prayer and to address the forces behind the attack. There is a theme of lawlessness and deception at high levels of government that has a trickle-down effect that incites everything from riots to revolutions. It's not hard to pull the curtains back on false-flag events inspiring delusion. As believers and churches, we do have the power to defeat powers and principalities, and have an impact on culture – we just learning how to be successful at doing it. Victories in the spiritual realm have some rules. One is that our authority is linked to our Kingdom calling. We have everything we need in terms of power, anointing and wisdom to carry out our Kingdom assignment.
After you are saved there is a God gift calling inside of you that wants to come out and manifest. It's not understood by many yet, but it is the energy that comes when you are born again. Being born again is when you choose to acknowledge the revelation of Jesus as God's Son and submit to Him as Lord of your life. You believe that God raised Him from the dead and that He will take your life into His Hands with loving care and eternal life. But obviously there is much more that we need to know than just the first baby steps! The first steps are great because there is a lot of peace that comes when we realize we have eternity in Heaven and will be able to see our loved ones again in a better place. That is worth a lot. But there is still much more!
This afternoon a friend of mine was praying for me over the phone. It was a powerful prayer of decreeing and declaring miracles over my life and I sensed the anointing of God as she was releasing faith filled words. Suddenly I had a strange sense of a voice from the kingdom of darkness saying - "I am not finished with you yet." I thought about this for a few seconds but then the presence of God flooded my body and the Holy Spirit spoke to me in a still small voice saying, "I Am not finished with you yet". He confirmed this word with the scripture Jeremiah 29:11. His voice was gentle but strong. It was not commanding or forceful but filled with love and compassion.
God is taking setbacks and what was intended for evil and bringing blessings. Negative situations will have a good outcome as you keep your focus and trust in God. If you have gotten warfare and resistance over the past few months, then you can now expect big breakthroughs to start happening. If you lost your house, your car broke down, you got hit with health setbacks, relationship troubles increased or old behaviors or addictions kicked up again—I have good news for you. God is going to do a sudden move to bring you out of your darkest time and use it to bless you. Watch for September 15–17 to be a turning point with this.
Winters are brutal up in the North Country. During the summertime I am outside as much as possible. Just a few days ago I was hiking early in the morning along a very common trail I take many times a week. While I enjoyed the natural surroundings and beauty of the moment, an image flashed before my eyes three times of an extremely large, firmly built concrete wall crumbling down right before me. This same image continued to occasionally flash before me throughout the day, and I pondered it over and over. Just about everywhere I went over the next few days, there they were—images of walls crumbling down. My initial thought was, God, You are removing hindering forces; strongholds and fortresses are crumbling down. His said to me, "I am removing unscalable walls from among My people. Walls that have hindered. Walls that have blocked. Walls that have stopped My people from the destiny of their harvest field."
The hardest time in a transition is often in between the sets of waves. God has been pulling people out of the prior waves that they've been used to riding. Meaning, many of His people have been feeling the pull out of the previous movements, traditions, religious systems, revelations and doctrines of the past; anything that doesn't match where God is heading. Some have really struggled to let go! Why? Could it be that it has become too familiar, comfortable, manageable and no longer necessary to rely on God as much? "Houston, we have a problem!" It's so easy to become stagnant in our walk with God and limit the potential growth He desires in us.
