Signs 2.0

As of today, we are halfway through the first month of 2016 and like normal, the local gym is packed. The first few weeks of the year I always get a good laugh at the gym. And laughing is good for the heart (Proverbs 17:22).

However, many people go overboard with it, especially in their fitness goals. A 2012 study shows that 73% of people who set fitness goals give up before achieving them.

According to the study the reasons were: it’s too difficult to follow a diet or workout regimen, it’s too hard to get back on track once they fall off, not enough time.

In a generation that has a device for everything to simplify our lives, they seem to have an opposite effect. Later this year Samsung will release the Welt, a smart belt that will monitor your waistline, calories burned, how long you’re inactive and other health signs. Actually, it’s easy to see the signs of the wannabies in the gym.

Signs?

• One of the first signs that somebody is a newbie in the gym is wearing too much clothes, if you’re really working out you don’t need a lot of clothing to keep warm.

• Next are the over-trainers. These people are so determined to get in shape that they try to do every exercise machine in the gym they can and usually do them all wrong.

• Which leads to what I call the no-lifers, these are the people who spend hours in the gym working out, sometimes coming multiple times and not getting enough rest. It’s like they have no life outside of the gym.

• On the flipside there are those who really don’t want to work out, they just want to feel good and have fun. These are the ones sitting on machines watching TV and barely moving or standing around talking to their friends, or worse yet talking on their cell phones.

• You often find them walking on the treadmills and talking on the phones. Cell phones are cancerous to working out, simple music players work best. Walking is not cardio, it’s a start.

• Finally, you should never wear heavy clothing when doing cardio, the point isn’t to sweat because you’re trapping heat, the whole point is to get your heart rate up high enough so you’ll sweat without trapping the heat.

Cardio?

Cardio is short for cardiovascular exercise, which means working the heart harder, so it will get stronger and be healthier. Burning calories and sweating aren’t the focus of cardio—they are the byproducts of it!

If you do cardio correctly, your heart rate will go up and your body temperature will go up. Then you’ll sweat and you not just burn calories while exercising, your metabolism will increase and you’ll burn more calories when you’re resting and not in the gym at all.

If your heart is stronger, you will lower the risk of: heart disease, strokes and aneurysms. For the newbies in the gym, these are important signs.

Signs?

I’d like to think that last year was a productive year for me. It began with me completing my training as a writer and finally getting my first book to an editor. I felt so alive, like there was nothing I couldn't do!

I had hoped that God would fulfill my NEW DREAMS by the end of the year and I wasted the rest of the year chasing dreams. Since I still feel led and want to relocate back to Colorado Springs, I was hoping to find a literary agent to represent me in Colorado.

However, God kept closing doors there and I decided to pray about what I should do, I knew I had to let it go. Then God opened the door for me to start speaking at area churches and I started looking into agencies that represent both speakers and authors.

After speaking to my last instructor, I decided to pitch my book to a specific agent in the South, only to learn that he represents many of my friends and acquaintances in men’s ministry. In my mind, I began to look at that as a sign of the direction God wanted me to go and I thought, bring it on God.

Discerning God’s will isn’t always easy, the Jews experienced this when they missed the wonderful signs of the Savior, when He came as the Christmas baby (Isaiah 7:14). I know the struggle and ache aren’t MINE only.

At this time of year we all look for signs in our lives. Whether it’s about a career, health or love, we often find our HOPE in signs. And that is what this first blog of 2016 will be about; this one is TO THE DREAMERS who want an EXLIXIRLIFE.

SIGNS?

On NEW YEAR’S EVE, most of us think about what we hope to accomplish in the new year, that’s why we make resolutions. Getting in shape has been the number one resolution for decades, that’s why ELECTRIC devices to monitor our progress have become so popular.

And there lies the problem, when most people don’t see any signs of weight loss, they give up and go back to their old ways. Or, if the workout becomes too tiresome and not fun, they become uninterested. The first few weeks are normally TOUCH AND GO.

It’s called “working” out for a reason, it’s supposed to be hard, and that’s a no-brainer! Your goal should be results, not signs or a good time. Jesus once told a group of Pharisees that wicked people ask for signs (Matthew 12:39). We don’t need faith if we have signs, it’s a no-brainer!

After His resurrection Jesus confronted Thomas about his doubt and declared that those who have faith without seeing are blessed (John 20:27-29)!

The author of Hebrews expands on this teaching (Hebrews 11:1). When we get serious about our faith, we stop playing games, Father forgive us.

Games?

I’ll be the first to confess that I’m guilty of playing games with faith. My favorite is the red light game. When you’re hoping for something or someone to love badly and things aren’t looking good.

Then you cry out to God for a sign or GOOD NEWS that IT ISN’T OVER, YET. You pray God will change a signal light from red to green before you count down. As if a traffic signal can STEADY ME.

However, King Solomon reminds us of the wisdom of putting our trust in God (Proverbs 3:5). With that said, FATHER, I TRUST YA—I TRUST IN YOU and no other name or sign, this is WHERE I END.

I just wish I had learned that as a child, instead, I searched for love in the petals of daisies in the she loves me, she loves me not game. FEAR NOT, love often blooms without any signs.