Gtcotr/ws012809
This is week three of our ten week spiritual fitness class. This course will get you in the best spiritual shape you have ever been in and is designed to begin:
A lifestyle that will last a lifetime.
The spiritual exercises we have and will discuss are designed by God to stretch and strengthen you beyond your current capacity and make you able to successfully handle every situation in life.
At the end of these ten weeks, providing you keep up with the spiritual exercises, you will be sharper, more confident and spiritually ready for any challenge. Other exercise programs don’t always afford you the benefit of seeing immediate results. Not so with this program, it begins paying dividends instantly. From the first time and every time you allow these principles to work, they will stretch you, strengthen you, and increase your spiritual momentum.
Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
The Greek word translated work in this scripture is a prime example of the dynamo of God’s Word turning over on the inside of you to create energy … the energy needed to run the race, finish the course, and keep the faith. If you take every principle we will learn in these ten weeks and apply them to your life, discipline your soul with daily spiritual exercise, and keep them under your conscious command, you will win the race of life.
1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ …
This is a given … victory is a pre-drawn conclusion for the spiritually fit.
Joshua 1
8 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
When God needed Joshua to be strong and courageous, God gave Joshua some spiritual exercises and told him to be disciplined and consistently stretch and strengthen himself.
Joshua 1
5 "No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.
6 "Be strong and of good courage …
7 "Only be strong and very courageous …
Joshua was told that if he did these things that no man would be able to prevail against him all the days of his life. But it all hinged on Joshua keeping up with his spiritual exercises and looking beyond the natural circumstances to the spiritual realities.
Spiritual things are the things we cannot see. Natural exercises are things we can see and touch, but spiritual exercises are exercises of the mind, the will and the emotions of man … the invisible things which cause natural circumstances to line up with spiritual realities.
Invisible things like the stretching exercises we discussed in week one. Remember them? Have you yet disciplined yourself to stretch your spirit on a daily basis?
* To Dream
* To Meditate & Get A Plan From God
> A dream is not a plan!
* To Declare
In week two we continued adding exercises to our spiritual exercise plan and discussed:
* Relationship
* Presentation
* Participation
If you missed these sessions please don’t fall behind or risk failure by not knowing how to fully exercise your spirit and get the every advantage in life. Log onto cotr.com or churchonline.tv, download the notes and view the archived sessions or stop by the information desk and ask for your copy of the lessons you missed.
This week we are going to add yet three more disciplines of spiritual fitness from God’s word. We are continuing to use the life of Joseph as God intended, for our example, our role model if you will, to instruct us on the things we need to add to our discipline of life.
So, let’s turn in our study guide, which is the Holy Bible, to the book of Genesis, chapter 39.
Genesis 39
7 ¶ And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me."
8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, "Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand.
9 "There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"
10 So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.
This brings up the first exercise we need to add to our life this week:
1. Character
* Character is who you are when no one else is watching.
* Is your integrity for sale? If so, what price?
* Whatever you compromise to keep you will ultimately lose.
* You will encounter character defining and character confirming moments in life … these defining moments give you an opportunity to redefine your character when you find a flaw.
Just because you are a person of character and your integrity is intact does not guarantee you will never face injustice. However, with continued exercise of your character and integrity in the face of injustice, you will prevail.
The Apostle Peter said, (1 Peter 4), that if we suffer injustice as a Believer we should not let it get us down knowing that we are just and right within ourselves. However, if we suffer as an evildoer then we are only suffering the trouble we have caused ourselves.
* Joseph continued passing the tests of character.
The story continues in Genesis 39 by telling us that this woman could not stand being rejected and ended up falsely accusing Joseph of trying to rape her. When Joseph’s master heard this he believed his wife and put Joseph in prison.
Genesis 39
20 Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison.
The second principle of spiritual fitness we need to add to our life in week three is the element of:
2. Humility
* How a person handles the false accusations, demotions, and failures of life will determine if they overcome or are overcome by the circumstances.
* At times we must wait on God.
* What we do while we wait may at times determine how long we wait.
* You think things are bad now? Believe me, you can make them worse!
* No man can change your destiny … God can … just don’t make Him mad at you.
* Convince yourself: “My future is set … Today won’t be the end of me … This is not the big one.”
* When you can’t do anything else … just don’t make it worse. * Give God time to work … He is still on your side!
Genesis 39
21 But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Exercise Three:
3. Endurance
Genesis 39
23 The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.
Even after all of his trouble, Joseph had the energy to keep on going … to start all over again … to prove himself to yet another master.
* Do not allow hardship or pressure to take away the dream. * Keep your focus on the goal and keep the dream alive.
* A successful person is one who blossoms where they are planted.
* Success is more than a one step process.
* Most often success in life belongs to those who are able to endure the process.
* Never adjust your theology to accommodate a tragedy.
Assignments for this week:
Remember to: Keep Stretching
1. Work on your Character
* Do not compromise your integrity.
* Seek to impress God today more than man.
2. Work on Humility
* Blossom where you are planted … even if it is beneath you.
* Pray for those who persecute you, despitefully use you, or falsely accuse you.
* Give God space and time to work.
* When you can’t do anything else, just don’t make it worse.
3. Work on Endurance
* It’s not what you are going through but what you are going to.
* Endure hardships as a good soldier of Christ.
