True Life

Spiritual Training Cycle: Connection (wk. 2/13)

John 5:19-25

I used to be scared of dying. I’d have nightmares about the world ending apocalyptic-style. Everything would be crashing and burning around me, and I’d be in my car trying to drive as fast as I could to my parent’s house so I could tell them goodbye and then I’d be at peace because we’d all die together. So weird. And then sometimes when I couldn’t sleep, thoughts of loved ones passing would cross my mind and I’d start crying. Why did I do that to myself? Yes, death is sad, but it wasn’t until several years ago that I changed my feelings towards it and thought about what awaits us when we do pass from this life to the next. From death into life. And oh, how amazing that day will be. Words cannot even describe the destiny Jesus has prepared for us.

“Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgement, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24)

I am currently reading the book Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God’s Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You. The book is filled with so much hope of our destiny and life with Christ in Heaven. There are a few recurring questions the people who have come back from a near-death experience say they were asked when they were briefly in the presence of what some call “the Living Light” aka Jesus:

“What did you do with your life? What have you done with your life to show Me? How much have you loved with your life? Have you loved others as I am loving you? Totally? Unconditionally?”

We don’t arrive in Heaven and get asked “How much do you deadlift?” or “How come you never dialed in your macros?” Instead, we are asked what we have done with our life to evidence Jesus to this world. Jesus wants us to put our faith in him and receive the free gift of eternal life. But he also wants our relationship with Him to transform our life while here on Earth. You’re not taking your body to Heaven, you’re taking your soul. So, what does that mean as an athlete and someone who is searching for a deeper relationship; eternal life?

It makes me think of 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

Purpose in every step. Paul says that he trains his body to do what it should. But that’s not the only training Paul does. In 1 Timothy 4:7, we see that Paul also trains his soul:

Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.

When you commit to follow Jesus, there are benefits in this life. New joy, true peace, and hope that can sustain even the toughest day. Our destiny with God isn’t just waiting for us in Heaven. It’s also happening right here and right now. It is true life.

Questions for Reflection:

What habits are you practicing now that train your soul for this life and the next?

Where could you use help loving others unconditionally?

Trade Offs

Spiritual Training Cycle: Connection (wk. 1/13)

Matthew 19:16-30

You may be familiar with the old cliche that states, “everything in moderation,” which preaches the idea that we should avoid having too much of any one thing. There is a limit to quantity in our earthly lives. You may also be familiar with the label on pharmaceutical drugs that states, “side effects may occur;” which admits a potential limit to quality. We know these phrases to be true because we’ve all witnessed the consequences of having ‘too much’ of a good thing and then experienced the ‘side effects.’ However, when we think of the principles of limitation and moderation in light of our spiritual experiences, we find the opposite to be true. We know our God in Heaven is infinite in both quantity and quality. When we pursue a life of God’s promises, we get to trade the finite for the infinite!

In fitness, when we maximize the output of our bodies we also learn about trade-offs. We can optimize for maximum strength for a single repetition. We can optimize for muscle size and lowest body fat percentage. Or we can maximize endurance output for greater use of energy during long exercise. World Strongman competitors are the strongest athletes in the world setting records for amazing feats of strength for max squat and max deadlift. But the average strongman competitor is 30% body fat and isn’t likely to be running any long distances. World class bodybuilders are less than 5% body fat with maximum muscle size (sometimes upwards of 300 lbs of lean mass) but aren’t likely to be running any long distances or setting any records for their lifts. Record holding marathon runners can run impossibly long distances at extremely fast paces but are not high in muscularity or setting records in lifting. While CrossFit attempts to become elite at all things fitness, they are not world record holders at any one thing. Hyper specialization requires trade-offs. We understand these trade-offs and apply them to everything we know in the world.

When we truly believe in God and the promise of Heaven, we are inviting unlimited abundance into our limited world. This means that unlimited love, unlimited grace, and unlimited joy are made available to us through an unlimited God. With God at the center of our lives, we don’t have to trade-off infinite love for infinite grace because both are available simultaneously. With Heaven in mind, we don’t trade-off unlimited love for unlimited joy; both are available. The real trade-off comes in giving up the things of this world that rust and decay to gain the unlimited abundance God has promised us in the life to come.

We witness an example of a trade-off in the Bible story about the rich, young man who asks Jesus the question of the work he must do to gain eternal life. The rich man understands how to work hard. He understands the idea of trading one value for another value. He has been well rewarded for those trades in the past. Jesus knows this about the man and pushes him to seek a deeper pursuit in life than just wealth. Matthew 19:21-22 says: 

Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus doesn’t call the man immoral or evil. But He sees the heart of this man and knows money has become his idol. The young man isn’t willing to trade his earthly treasures which will fade and disappear for the treasures of heaven.

After the young man leaves, Jesus continues preaching to the crowd and says in Matthew 19:29: 

“And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sister or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.”

Jesus is inviting people to understand that earthly possessions and worldly relationships will fade. Each person must choose to make this trade to receive a greater return on their investment for what awaits them in Heaven.

When we look to maximize our fitness in one area, we often minimize other areas. When we look to maximize our connection to God through Christ we are given an infinite return. Infinite love, infinite grace, infinite joy at the cost of everything finite that we know in this world.

Questions for Reflection:

What is a time where you saw/felt a glimpse of God’s unlimited power & love in your life?

What is something that you struggle giving up or “trading off” for the unlimited nature of God and the promise of Heaven?

The Purpose Journey

Spiritual Training Cycle: Submission (wk. 13/13)

1 Peter 5:1-7

The greatest basketball player of all time is widely disputed. You might be in camp Michael Jordan, “His Airness,” (six NBA championships) or loyal to LeBron James, “King James,” (four NBA championships). You might even throw the “Black Mamba” into the conversation if you want to make a case for the late, Kobe Bryant (five NBA championships). But my personal choice is Phil Jackson. As an athlete, he only won two championships early in his career and was plagued by injuries and setbacks. His biggest ‘wins’ didn’t really occur until after he shed the title of athlete and began honoring his greater purpose as a coach; coaching in 11 championship titles! I believe Phil’s difficult experience as an athlete, injuries and all, allowed him to walk with greater purpose and humility into his destiny as a coach. In both the game of basketball and in our walk of faith, true and lasting success usually requires that we rethink our purpose. Our purpose can be found in faithfulness.

Similar to Phil’s experience, we can also step into a new purpose for our spiritual lives when we respond with humility to our mistakes and ‘injuries.’ Spiritual wounds directly affect our faithfulness. When we offer these wounds to Jesus, He takes them upon Himself so that we’re no longer weighed down by those burdens. We can release the sin and refocus our attention back on our greater purpose as Christ followers. As we grow in our faith, we can then pass on this faithfulness to others.

We’ve been following Peter on his journey of faithfulness. It’s a tumultuous journey that includes spiritual wounds and developing humility. But like Phil Jackson, injury and setbacks aren’t the end of his story. In last week’s devotional, we saw the failure of Peter to claim discipleship and loyalty to Jesus. Jesus knows it isn’t the end of Peter’s story, and after Jesus rises from the dead, He seeks to reconcile with Peter. We see in John 21:17:

“A third time he asked him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’

Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, ‘Then feed my sheep.’”

Jesus is calling Peter to evolve into a new purpose as a leader. Peter must take everything he has learned up to this point about faithfulness in order to share these lessons with others. Restoration for Peter means Peter’s life is going to look different than it did before. He doesn’t just witness Jesus’ miracles but performs miracles himself.

Peter is a disciple to Jesus for only three years, but according to history, Peter is a Christian minister for much longer; 30 years in total. It is a triumph for Peter when we see him continuing to pass the torch and bring up new Christian leaders. It is no surprise that it looks and sounds familiar when Peter gives this message in 1 Peter 5:2:

“Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly - not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.”

Peter’s biggest wins didn’t occur as a disciple. In fact, we know that he messed up pretty bad in that capacity. But thankfully, Peter was able to use his spiritual injuries along with his faithfulness in Christ to become the most influential church leader of all time. These victories are a direct result of Peter’s restored faithfulness. Our purpose will be found on the other side of our mistakes when we live in faithfulness.

Questions for Reflection:

What spiritual injuries do you have?

What ways are you restoring your faith after these spiritual injuries?