In January we look forward to the new year and make some goals of things that we want to accomplish  in this new year. We are familiar with the normal “outward” goals of losing weight or getting out of debt or finishing school and earning a degree. But what about your inward goals? A few months into the year, we may get sidetracked and are not as focused. Today I want to drill down to our Spirit, Soul, and Body, and give you a sample workout to consider. Just like you have to “do something” on the outside in order to get fit and fab, you also have to “do something” on the inside to transform your inner man. We all have different areas of improvement that we might need to focus on, so use this as a guide to help you create a customized plan. Then just as in any workout plan, you don’t finish where you start. You keep building every month, lifting more weight, doing more reps, until you have better strength and conditioning than you did when you started working out. If you can’t reach your toes, start by touching your knees, then stretching as far as you can toward your toes. It’s the same way on the inside, start where you are, and build up from there (5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, etc.) until you are constantly thinking good (God) thoughts, saying good (God) things, and doing good (God) things.  You have reprogrammed yourself to think, talk, and act like your heavenly father does. And who doesn’t love “Love?” God is Love!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Spirit – Feed

1. Spend 5 or 10 minutes a day with God, just talking and sharing. Tell him what’s on your mind, share your fears, your hopes and dreams. Ask Him for guidance and direction, and He will give it. (I purposefully did not use the word “prayer” because this is not just giving God your wish list, or complaining about everything that’s going wrong in your life. This is your “sharing time” with your friend.)

2. Spend 5 or 10 minutes a day reading (eating) the Word of God. That is what your Spirit man eats, Words of Life, Bread of Life. He needs food to live. Don’t starve him to death, feed him daily (not weekly or monthly). The more you eat, the more you grow!

3. Meditate on the Word you read. We transform our lives by renewing our mind to think like God thinks (Romans 12:2). This is digesting what you ate. Then you will get some nourishment from it. God told Joshua to meditate on the Word day and night so he could do what it said. Then he would make his way prosperous and successful (Joshua 1:8). We have to meditate on Truth (God’s Word)…then do it!

4. Do what it says! James 1:22 (KJV) says, “Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” You can know how to get out of debt, but if you don’t actually quit spending money and pay down your credit cards, you won’t ever get out of debt. You can want to retire comfortably, but if you don’t make a small deposit into your savings account every time you get a paycheck, you won’t have any money for retirement. Likewise, we have to DO what God says to get the results He promises!

5. Follow the Spirit (your IGS – Inner Guidance System), so you won’t fulfill the lustful cravings of your flesh man and get your self in trouble, having to pay for it later (Galatians 5:16). Be SMART!

Soul – Weed

Our Soul consists of our Mind, Will, and Emotions, in other words our Thoughts, Desires, and Feelings. We need to be able to sort and differentiate “who’s talking” so we know how to respond appropriately.  Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God will help divide the soul and spirit. Is it our Spirit, Soul, or Body saying something, sending a message to us? After you determine which one, then you know how to respond appropriately: keep it or trash it, or does something needs your attention.

1. If it is a spirit, which spirit?

a. God’s Spirit (the Holy Spirit)

b. A good spirit like love, peace, faith, gentleness, kindness, etc.

c. An evil spirit like anger, manipulation, jealousy, lying, bitterness, etc.

d. The devil lying to you?

2. If it is your Soul, which one?

a. Your Mind? A thought, reasoning, logic, intellect? 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to take every thought captive that goes against what God says. Keep the good ones, trash the bad ones. Tackle your thoughts.

b. Your Will? Desires, cravings, appetites, lust for things? Bridle and redirect your desires.

c. Your Emotions? What emotion? Then calm it down and bring balance, meaning: If anger comes you settle him down so you don’t blow your top. If frustration comes, you breathe and practice patience. If fear comes, you recognize that God does not give you a spirit of fear and don’t answer the door! (2 Timothy 1:7) Like reading the dashboard on your car, you can see what needs attention under the hood and take care of it. You get the idea; monitor and manage your emotions.

3. If your Body is sending you signals, what part of you needs attention? Are you always tired and exhausted? Do you experience heartburn all the time, or gas and bloating? Do you have constant back pain? Whatever is it, take care it. Your body is like a car body. You don’t keep driving with a flat tire, with no oil or gas, or with tires that need balance or is out of alignment. Likewise, take care of your body or you will be forced to later.

Body – Seed

God’s desire is for His creation for “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). He deposited the seed within everything living thing to grow and multiply itself.  He wants to make your life bigger and better. He wants us to enjoy life, enjoy loving, enjoy living! That goes for naturally and spiritually.

1. Preventative maintenance, not repair. Invest in your body, don’t spend your life away. Take care of your body so it will take care of you. If you truly love your self, you will take care of yourself. You only have one to last a lifetime; you can’t trade it in.

2. Our body belongs to God. Are you a good renter? How are you taking care of His property? (I Corinthians 6:19)

3. Eat to live, not Live to eat. You are a live body, eat live food, real food (not processed food).

4. Your body was meant to Move! Do something fun that you like to do, then it is not just “exercise” (walk the beach, ride a bike, play tennis, play ball with your kids, etc.) You “rust” if you don’t move and your body aches and it is hard to move. You don’t quit playing because you get old…you get old because you quit playing!

5. Balance – work, play, God time, family and friends, me time, etc. If not, it is like driving with tires that need balancing…it’s a bumpy ride.

6. Live “care-free and stress-free” giving God all of your cares and concerns  (I Peter 5:7, Matthew 11:28-30) – in exchange for His peace and rest, the Prince of Peace. God IS taking care of everything that concerns you! (Psalm 138:8)

My Can-Did (Personal Snapshot)

I hope this has given you “Food for Thought” of areas in your life that need improvement. Take a few minutes to sit down and write down your plan, and personalize things you need to work on like eating better, or keeping your big mouth shut, or thinking positive thoughts, or recognizing fear and worry.

• Just take 5 minutes in the morning to ask “What can I do today to improve and make life better for myself and others?” This is your “bull’s eye” or focus, what you “Can-Do.”
• At the end of the day take 5 minutes to “See how you did,” your “Can-Did.”

What happens is, you become more positive. Instead of making excuses of what you can’t do, or how you never get a break, or it’s impossible to get out of your current situation, you start to see solutions. I can’t do this…but I can do that! You start seeing possibilities instead of limitations. It becomes a game, and we all like competition or a challenge! Challenge yourself each day to break your previous weekly record. So what if you blew it and ate one cookie. Give yourself a half a point for not eating 3 cookies (instead of deducting 1 point for eating 1 cookie)! You made progress. As long as you are taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back, you’re making forward progress toward your destination. Don’t beat yourself up. Celebrate, give yourself a high-five! Remember, practice makes perfect. No-one does it perfectly the first time…or the second or third time. So give yourself a break and keep trying, and you will get it right! Don’t listen to the voices telling you to quit trying, that you are bound to fail. Tell them to stick a sock in it!

Don’t pick no more than 3 things at a time or you will get overwhelmed. You can’t fix everything at once. It would be like having surgery on everything that’s wrong with you at one time…it would kill you! So only pick a few at a time and only focus on those. Work on those for at least a month, or until you can conquer them, then move on to your next area of improvement.

Remember ~ Always Be Improving! You’ve Got This! I “CAN-DO” all things, through Christ who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13).