Posted by: jakinnan | March 19, 2013

Be Careful

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Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall – 1 Corinthians 10:12

It is a curious fact that there is such a thing as being proud of grace. A man says, “I have great faith–I shall not fall; poor little faith may, but I never shall.” “I have fervent love,” says another. “I can stand; there is no danger of my going astray.” He who boasts of grace has little grace to boast of. Some who do this imagine that their graces can keep them, knowing not that the stream must flow constantly from the fountainhead or else the stream will soon be dry. If a continuous supply of oil does not come to the lamp, even though it may burn brightly today, it will smoke tomorrow, and noxious will be its scent.

Pay attention that you do not glory in your graces, but let all your glorying and confidence be in Christ and His strength, for only in this way can you be kept from falling. Be much more diligent in prayer. Spend longer time in holy adoration. Read the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly. Watch your lives more carefully. Live nearer to God. Take the best examples for your pattern. Let your conversation be full of heaven. Let your hearts be perfumed with affection for men’s souls. Live in such a way that men may recognize that you have been with Jesus and have learned of Him; and when that happy day shall come, when He whom you love shall say, “Come up higher,” may it be your happiness to hear Him say, “You have fought the good fight, you have finished the race, and henceforth there is laid up for you the crown of righteousness that doesn’t fade.”

Keep on, Christian, with care and caution! Go on, with holy fear and trembling! On, with faith and confidence in Jesus alone, and let your constant petition be, “Uphold me according to Your promise.” He alone is able “to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.”

-Alistair Begg

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Posted by: jakinnan | March 19, 2013

Things Are Not What They Seem

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What do all the great stories and myths tell us? What do they have in common? What are they trying to get across? Wherever they may come from, whatever their shape might be, they nearly always speak to us Three Eternal Truths. First, these stories are trying to remind us that things are not what they seem. There is a whole lot more going on here than meets the eye. Much more. After the tornado sets her down, Dorothy wakes and steps out of her old farmhouse to find herself in a strange new world, a land of Munchkins and fairies and wicked witches. The Land of Oz. How brilliant for the filmmakers to have waited for this moment to introduce color in the movie. Up till now the story has been told in black and white; when Dorothy steps out of the house, the screen explodes in color, and she whispers to her little friend, “Toto . . . I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”

Isn’t this the very lesson of the Emmaus Road? You recall the story—two followers of Christ are headed out of town after the Crucifixion, as dejected as two people can be, with every reason in their minds to be so and more. Their hopes have been shattered. They staked it all on the Nazarene, and now he’s dead. As they slump back toward their homes, Jesus sort of sneaks up alongside, very much alive but incognito, and joins their conversation, feigning ignorance—and they not seeing it is him.

We live in two worlds—or better, in one world with two parts, one part that we can see and one part that we cannot. We are urged, for our own welfare, to act as though the unseen world (the rest of reality) is, in fact, more weighty and more real and more dangerous than the part of reality we can see. The lesson from the story of the Emmaus Road—the lesson the whole Bible is trying to get across—begins with this simple truth: There is more going on here than meets the eye. Far more.

-John Eldredge, Waking the Dead

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Posted by: jakinnan | March 19, 2013

03/19/2013 Scripture

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And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

-Hebrews 11:6 NLT

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Posted by: jakinnan | March 18, 2013

Strength in Troubled Times

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Where will you turn in a time of crisis? When tragedy hits? When disaster strikes? Will it be your favorite magazine? The morning newspaper? The evening news? You will need something to give you strength and direction in your time of need—and you cannot find a better resource than the Word of God.

As one writer said, “One gem from that ocean is worth all of the pebbles from earthly streams.” Just a single pebble from the ocean of God’s Word can make all the difference when tragedy or hardship strikes. How many in their affliction have found comfort from the Scripture?

Trusting in what God has said through the Bible can sustain us and give us direction and hope and comfort when we most need it. Little platitudes or clever sayings don’t help, but the Word of God does. It has been said that “he who rejects the Bible has nothing to live by. Neither does he have anything to die by.”

Things go in and out of style, but the Word of God never goes out of style. It never goes out of date, unlike this morning’s newspaper. The Word of God always will be relevant.

That is why C.S. Lewis once said, “Everything that is not eternal is eternally out of date.”

I urge you to get a good foundation in this Book, because it is only a matter of time until hardship strikes you. It happens in every life, without exception. But if you have a good foundation in the Word of God, then you will be ready for difficulty when it comes. Don’t wait until then to try and catch up.

Get that foundation now.

-Greg Laurie

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Posted by: jakinnan | March 18, 2013

A Stranger With You

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Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus – Psalms 39:12

Yes, O Lord, with You, but not to You. All my natural alienation from You, Your grace has effectually removed; and now, in fellowship with Yourself, I walk through this sinful world as a pilgrim in a foreign country. You are a stranger in Your own world. Man forgets You, dishonors You, sets up new laws and alien customs, and knows You not.

When Your dear Son came unto His own, His own received Him not. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world did not recognize Him. There was never a foreigner who stood out from the inhabitants of any country as much as your beloved Son among His mother’s brethren. It is no marvel, then, if I who live the life of Jesus should be unknown and a stranger here below. Lord, I would not be a citizen where Jesus was an alien. His pierced hand has loosened the cords that once bound my soul to earth, and now I find myself a stranger in the land. My speech seems to these pagans among whom I dwell a strange tongue; my manners are singular, and my actions are outlandish. A prince would be more at home in the ghetto than I could ever be in the haunts of sinners.

But here is the sweetness of my circumstance: I am a stranger with You. You are my fellow-sufferer, my fellow-pilgrim. Oh, what joy to wander in such blessed company! My heart burns within me on the journey when You speak to me, and though I am a traveler, I am far more blessed than those who sit on thrones, and far more at home than those who live in their comfortable homes.

To me remains nor place, nor time:
My country is in every clime;
I can be calm and free from care
On any shore, since God is there.
While place we seek, or place we shun,
The soul finds happiness in none:
But with a God to guide our way,
‘Tis equal joy to go or stay.

-Alistair Begg

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Posted by: jakinnan | March 18, 2013

What Is Seen Is Temporary, but What Is Unseen Is Eternal

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Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:16-18)

The first line grabs me by the throat. “Therefore we do not lose heart.” Somebody knows how not to lose heart? I’m all ears. For we are losing heart. All of us. Daily. It is the single most unifying quality shared by the human race on the planet at this time. We are losing-or we have already lost-heart. That glorious, resilient image of God in us is fading, fading, fading away. And this man claims to know a way out.

So, how, Paul-how? How do we not lose heart?

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. (2 Cor. 4:18)

What? I let out a sigh of disappointment. Now that’s helpful. “Look at what you cannot see.” That sounds like Eastern mysticism, that sort of wispy wisdom dripping in spirituality but completely inapplicable to our lives. Life is an illusion. Look at what you cannot see. What can this mean? Remembering that a little humility can take me a long way, I give it another go. This wise old seer is saying that there is a way of looking at life, and that those who discover it are able to live from the heart no matter what. How do we do this? By seeing with the eyes of the heart. Later in life, writing from prison to some friends he was deeply concerned about, Paul said, “I pray . . . that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” (Eph. 1:18).

-John Eldredge, Waking the Dead

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Posted by: jakinnan | March 18, 2013

03/18/2013 Scripture

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Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

-Hebrews 12:14-15 NLT

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Posted by: jakinnan | March 18, 2013

03/17/2013 Scripture

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Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

-Hebrews 12:1-3 NLT

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Posted by: jakinnan | March 16, 2013

03/16/2013 Scripture

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Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.

-2 Timothy 2:22 NLT

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Posted by: jakinnan | March 15, 2013

The Gym Free Fitness Plan

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Ο Bite the Bullet
Gym workouts are always easier, especially when days are short and trails slick. But training on trails builds the best hiking fitness, so suck it up and get out there. Make these adjustments to enhance safety: Wear reflective or light-colored layers, train in traction devices or mini crampons if it’s icy, bring a whistle and/or a cell phone, pack a headlamp, and inform someone of your plans (use an auto-alert system like ineversolo.com) or train with a friend.

Ο Increase Baseline Conditioning
Starting from ground zero? Use the first month to build strength slowly and avoid injury.
>> Step-up cardio workouts.
Running—or any aerobic activity that boosts your heart rate (top right)— increases cardiovascular health and lung capacity, and will help you maintain trail-ready fitness. Walking and jogging are the best workouts for hikers, but mixing in other activities helps prevent burnout and reduces the risk of overuse injuries. Start a basic training plan with at least twice-weekly cardio workouts, and work up to a more structured plan that incorporates strength- and cross-training within two weeks (see below). If time is an issue, fit shorter efforts into your day: Speedwalk 10 minutes at a time before, during, and after work.
>> Build endurance.
Complete at least one long, low-intensity workout a week; aim for four to eight miles, or about four hours. “A longer hike encourages your body to begin using fat as an energy source, which is what we require for the slow burn of backpacking,” says John Colver, author of Fit By Nature.

Ο Adopt a Training Plan
The key to fitness: a regular routine. Use this schedule and adjust heart rate (HR) targets as you build endurance.

  • Monday: Cardio endurance: 30 mins of fast walking or running (at 50% of max HR)
  • Tuesday: Body-weight strength training: 30 mins (see chart, next page); light yoga
  • Wednesday: Cross-train: 30 mins of cardio (at 65% of max HR); stretch for 10 mins
  • Thursday: Rest day: Stay active (go on a leisurely walk), but don’t stress joints/muscles.
  • Friday: Cardio endurance: 30 mins of fast walking or running (at 50% of max HR)
  • Sat/Sun: Overall endurance: One day, do a long hike; rest on the other day.

+ Intermediate Increase cardio workouts (M, F) by 15 minutes and up your tempo to 60-65 percent of max HR; add 30 minutes of strengthening (Th); increase endurance time or distance by 10 percent/week.
+ Advanced Increase cardio workouts (M, F) to 60 minutes and up your tempo to 70-75 percent of max HR; integrate two-minute (or longer) intervals into cross-training (W); replace a strength day (T/Th) with circuit intervals (page 32), and add 20 minutes of cardio intervals to the other; the long hike should exceed four hours.

Ο Rest Up Recovery days and sufficient sleep are both essential for muscle repair and reducing your risk of repetitive-motion injuries. Alternate cardio workouts with strengthening, and schedule one rest- and one light-effort- day per week. Get eight hours of shuteye per night.

Ο Cross-Train Mix up a running-dominated cardio routine (which can burn more than 600 calories per hour) with one of these alternative calorie-burners: stair-climbing (650 cal/hour), rowing (435 cal/hour), swimming (425 cal/hour), or cycling (300 cal/hour).

Please consult your Doctor before starting any workout program.

Courtesy of Backpacker magazine.

Picture Credit: National Geographic

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