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Monday, June 15

Day 11, Paragraph 11 of Weekday Blog #1

*Starting our morning and day off great with the 10-minute Weekday Blog*
Our first DAILY blog for each Weekday in JUNE!

Thank you for joining us for this
ground-breaking JOURNEY
...
through the 1st CHAPTER of Keith's book,
Keep the FAITH…Keep Your VISION”!

If you will read this book in its entirety, then you will be equipped
to begin walking with the confidence and authority that Jesus Christ came and died to provide for us, in order that we may work *with* Him, be *fulfilled* in our work, lead a *successful life*, and...

      


Day ELEVEN,
Paragraph ELEVEN:

    
The backwards way of thinking is certainly the way most career-minded people function in today's world, where the pursuit of food, clothing, shelter, wealth, and social standing come well before the pursuit of godliness. Observe that, although not placed in priority observance above the spirit and soul perspective, none of these should be construed as being of no importance to God, or be thought as though He does not care about our physical well-being. After all, He designed the human body, and the Scripture declares that God gives us richly all things to enjoy
.

Question to ponder:

What is God's vision for the new or young believer as they set out to enjoy their new journey and begin fighting for balance between their spirit, soul, and body?  _________________________________________

Keith's "Comments from the Author":

"To downplay the importance of our physical bodies would be a terrible mistake.  After all, it is our physical body that gives us legal access to move about the planet in the physical realm.  Over my many years in the church, I have watched many young believers strike imbalances in this matter, in many different ways.  Important to mention is that our walk with the Lord is a process of learning how to gain our balance in the spirit, soul, and body. Where striking the proper balance between our spirit, soul, and body is concerned, focusing solely on the spirit and the soul, omitting the importance of the body, is dangerous, to say the least.  As a youth pastor for ten years, I have had the privilege of leading many young people to Christ, and mentoring countless more.  Just as growing babies in the natural body awkwardly work at gaining their balance in learning to stand and walk, young believers can also prove rather awkward in finding their footing, so to speak, where spiritual matters, being in harmony with focus on physical matters, are concerned. As you might imagine, helping young believers strike this most important balance between spirit, soul, and body is crucial.  I learned early on that satan gets undue credit for tormenting and attacking young Christians when, instead of it being to his credit, it is more often overexhuberance in attending functions at the church (like prayer meetings, Bible studies, and group fellowships) at the expense of providing sufficient care, maintenance and nutrients, to the physical body as necessary. While it's very true that there is little else as beautiful to a pastor than when young folks, who are truly passionate about salvation, give their hearts to the Lord, become involved with the youth group, and give everything they are and have to growing in Christ. However, a young believer needs to be nurtured by leaders and mentors in the flock and fellowship, just as a newborn babe requires care, attention, and rearing by the mature adult caregivers of the household.  It goes to reason that the tendency of the newborn babe in Christ is to get so caught up in learning and growing in the things of the Lord that, if they are not careful, they can get swept away in an imbalance in their life, and end up neglecting necessary care for the physical body and health. The important thing to ponder is that we'll not enjoy all that God has given us to enjoy, if we don't take proper care of our physical body, striking that proper stewardship balance between the three: spirit, soul, and body.  I must admit, the first few times that I found myself in intense spiritual battles, I came to realize that there wasn't a demon spirit within 100 miles of me;  so the truth was actually legions of demons turned out to be my own body beginning to shut down on me.  I had become so involved in the church and in my daily work schedule that I fell into a trap of eating on the run, not getting enough sleep, and, when I did take time for a quick meal, it was fast food that contained little to no nutritional value to be gained. Hence, there was also no joy to be found. Praise God that He makes our life balanced, orderly, filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory... as long as we don't neglect proper maintenance of this physical vessel, in balance with our spirit and soul, all provided for us to enjoy, as we work all things together, in harmony!"

"Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, not trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. (1 Timothy 6:17)


*See you tomorrow, and please make sure to invite your friends too! God bless and keep you!*

_____________________________


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