Spiritually & Physically Fit

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."

I think sometimes we read certain scriptures and understand it but don't fully commit to it. We try and find ways to "fulfill" the scripture the best way it fits into our lifestyle and go on with our life. I think the Holy Spirit wants us to fully commit mind, body & spirit.

In 1 Corinthians we read that we are to honor our body because it is a temple for the Holy Spirit. I always though I was doing well with this until I finally fully committed and realized that our physical health is a very large part of the puzzle. As I began running, eating healthy and loosing weight, my walk with Christ has grown more than before. I have realized that the only way for me to overcome an unhealthy lifestyle was to allow the Holy Spirit, who is dwelling in my temple, to supernaturally give me the willpower to overcome temptations and help me persevere through things. Sometimes on a long run, the only thing that got me through was quoting scripture and focusing on the glory of God!

If you are wondering what is missing in your Christian walk, it may just be a discipline in the area of physical fitness & healthy eating. Give it try. What do you have to lose? You will feel better & have a closer connection with the Holy Spirit.

Grace & Peace
Ben


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Ungrateful Christians (two words that should never be used together)

I know we all have our days when we are in a bad mood and do things we wouldn't normally do or say things we wouldn't normally say. But when it happens 3 days in a row, there is an attitude problem. We as Christians are called to a higher standard especially when you are in a leadership position. It saddens my heart when people can be so ungrateful when someone has been doing everything they can to help make things accommodating and comfortable. 

I pray that WE can look past the petty things in life. 

It's easy for us to find something to complain about. When things are inconvenient for us, things are not going our way or someone has a different opinion than you. We need to pick our battles wisely and be grateful that we are alive, breathing, loved by a God who has every right to deny His love based on our actions towards Him but yet He still loves us unconditionally!

Let's be a people who are known by our actions and words and show Gods love to all we come in contact with!

Grace and Peace
Ben

Getting Back into Good Habits!

It's good to be back! I want this to become a habit for me because it makes me stop and evaluate my life. We can get so busy in life and forget that we are making impressions on people and in situations every day of our life. Have you ever stopped and wondered what impact your having on your surroundings? My prayer today is that my actions, words and deeds reflect God's love and are always leading people to something better!

Good to be back!
Grace and Peace
Ben


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Surrounded By LOVE!

I am so blessed to have the family, related and church, and friends that I do.  To live a life without a godly surrounding and influence would make life a lot harder.  Being surrounded with Love gives you a peace knowing that people are there to pick you up when you fall down and put you back on the proper path.  It is also an amazing feeling to have people who truly celebrate life's good times with you. In all of this wonderful LOVE, GOD is at the center of it all.  I truly do not know how people go through life without having that support system let alone a life without the Love of a heavenly father. 

Like the Nationwide Insurance commercial says "Life comes at your fast".  When life happens and catches you off guard, having a solid foundation truly helps you react in a godly time and manner.  But when the world comes at you fast and you give in, the love that surrounds you can bring you back to where you should be, surrounded by that love that keeps on flowing unconditionally.  For that Love I am forever grateful.

So it is very true that who you surround yourself with will shape who you are and how you act and react to situations and God is the only true way to be saved for the worldly temptations and struggles.

Keep your head up and remember surround yourself in LOVE!!

Grace and Peace
Ben

Not My Will

My prayer is that in times when big decisions are needed to be made that we can put aside our earthly desires and let the one who created us and knows us guide our decisions. We are human but we serve an all knowing God who only wants what's best.

NOT MY WILL LORD BUT YOURS BE DONE. Today and Forever!

When you let Gods will prevail you don't have to worry about the outcome because your path is set before for you with someone leading the way!

This is my prayer.

Grace and Peace.
Ben


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A Great Leader

I am so blessed to be in a church with a Great Leader.  Matt Johnson is the lead pastor at LCC in Lancaster, OH where my wife and I attend.  We have gone through some changes at the church and are now on a new journey and the future looks bright!

I am so glad to finally be in a church where I get fed every week and also am challenged to live my life in a better way. The teachings are all scripture backed and there is no dancing around the issue.  Because everything is backed by scripture I feel that you can be straight forward and honest with current issues but still bring it across in a proper manner and Matt does that ever Sunday. We don't like to miss a Sunday but when we do it's normally because we are up north visiting the in-laws. Even though we have a great time we wish we were at LCC on Sundays.  My father-in-law has never really done the church thing and for some of his reasons I don't blame him.  He loves going on Sundays when they come to visit.  I think that speaks greatly to Matt and his transparent and relevant teachings.  He always says after a Sunday "I wish we lived closer".   I am blessed to have a church where you are not shy about asking people to come to church with you and check things out.  You know that every Sunday will be a quality service with relevant teachings.

I have also been blessed to take over one of the worship leader positions and also help my wonderful wife who leads the Junior High class every other month. I know it blesses her to be able to teach because that is her calling in life. She has that passion and I get to see it every day.  Leading worship is such an honor. To lead people into a atmosphere of worship is like nothing else.  To see how the Holy Spirit is working through people blesses me every Sunday.  I see people starting to open up and let the worries of the day and the worries of those around them fade away and enter into a spiritual encounter with the Holy Spirit.

Life is good at LCC and because of that my life is blooming with the Hold Spirit. He is guiding me and giving me strength that I could never have had on my own and it all starts with a Great Leader.

Grace and Peace
Ben

Old Memories

Well I am gearing up for a week of bachelorhood!  My wife is leaving tomorrow for a weeks vacation to Tennessee with her Mom, Grandma, and Aunt Beth to visit her cousin Rachel.  I guess its time for the cloths to stay on the floor, the dishes to pile up in the sink and a lot of pizza.  Or not.  I would have thought that it would be easy to go back to your old ways but when you have someone counting on you, it makes things different.  The cooking will not be a problem due to the fact that I do the cooking anyway and plus we are watching what we eat which has been going great by the way.  Down 5.5 lbs from Monday.  It's definitely getting easier but there are still temptations around. The true test is when there is no one in the house with me to keep me accountable.  I think I can, I think I can. 

I am so happy that my wife is getting to go away for a week with her family.  I know its hard for her to be away from her family and I try everything I can to make sure she gets to see her family as much as possible.  The good thing is that I enjoy being around them as well so it's nice for me as well.  I thank her all the time for the sacrifices she has made for us and I know I can never say thank you enough to express how much it means to me.  Also a big thank you to her family for allowing her to move my way.  I know they struggle with the same thing and again I appreciate your flexibility.

Well off to finish my Friday and get into the weekend.  Hopefully some things will get done on the house this week so the wife can come home to some nice changes. 

Grace and Peace
Ben