Faithfully Fit

I've come to find in the past few weeks that my relationship with Jesus is much like my desire to get fit again. I find so many excuses not to fit it in my schedule and in some ways cope with the physical and spiritual degradation that happens over time. I'm very lazy when I've been away for awhile and would rather the results just be done. Starting from scratch I know how quickly things come back to me but those first few weeks are PAINFUL!! I convince myself that there's no point and that I'm getting nothing out of it but when looking back at where I started I see a completely changed person. With a bit of persistence and dedication I can make it through the pain and come out on the other side a better man. After, a couple weeks of getting back into it everyday I find I quite enjoy it again!! Maybe by the end of the year I'll be back into sharing everything with my Savior... and have rock hard abs?! ^_^

WWJD?

I figured my first blog should be about the title of my blog page, so here we go. Why WWJD? To me it's not the "What Would Jesus Do?" so much as "Why Won't John-David?". I find that every time I rededicate myself to God I fall back into old habits and keep wondering why I won't or can't stop these sins. My eyes recently were reopened to God and the rededication commenced... the looming question thereafter has been, when will the old habits creep back and how do I stop this cycle from continuing. Last night in a dream a revelation hit me like a brick... a lovingly heavy brick, heaved at me by Jesus (cue heavenly music and angelic lights).  When I ask myself  "What Would Jesus Do" I can never quite answer that question, but I can tell you, by way of the word (The Bible), what Jesus DID!! So I am going to try to follow the examples left by Jesus and hope that my cycle doesn't bear continual repeating. 

Jesus at around my age traveled with 12 apostles which by todays standards roughly equates to having a posse, right?  J.C. picked guys and they followed him... not sure I have that kind of influence or charisma so I may have to hire some guys. If you ARE willing to roll with me just let me know. Anyways, he healed the blind, turned water to wine, multiplied bread and fish, WOW! I know a few slight of hand tricks and can pull a quarter out of your ear but I'm gonna have to take some magic lessons to get to this caliber. Jesus also talked in parables which I don't do myself either. I do know some cute anecdotes and I have some very compelling metaphors which will have to do for now. lastly, NO SINNING!! Hmmmmm... this is kinda the problem I needed resolved. So, maybe these are not the best examples from his life to follow so much as the points that set him apart as being the living Son of God. The true revelation to me was actually the 40 days spent alone dedicated to just being with God. I used to think the moral of the story was that the devil attacks us all and that even Jesus wasn't free of temptation which is neither accurate nor the point. In fact Jesus wasn't tempted in the slightest and promptly fought the Devil with the word "... For it is written.", which the devil attacks with more versus and Jesus fights off again with scripture. I believe the main point was to show that the scripture IS our weapon against the devil's lies.

Hebrews 4:12(NIV)

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than an double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 

I also believe that when Jesus said, "You must love the Lord your God ... and with all your MIND.", that he was referring to knowing the scripture. When you start to know the Lord's mind through his word maybe your motivations will be the same and the sins will melt away. This is just one man's interpretations, let me know what you think?