July 2014 – Christian Vitality | Christian Weight Loss | Christian Health & Fitness

Those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength & power

Growing wearing when on an exercise and weight loss program is often a setback. If we keep the right mindset and perspective however, we can renew our strength and continue building fat loss momentum.

When I went out on my bike ride today this song came to me. It’s sung in various circles performed by different people, but they all get the words from the same scripture verse.

31 But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired. Isaiah 40-31 Amplified Version

Though many take the words from the King James Version, I looked at several versions and the Amplified Version struck me as applicable to you and I on our journey towards weight loss (and long-term fat loss). Wait in the Amplified Version is defined as [who expect, look for, and hope in Him], which we should definitely do. We should tie our expectations & hopes in the Lord and look for evidence of his prescience in our lives.

One of those God moments where he shows himself through those odd (what secular people would call coincidence) circumstances happened to me today.

One of our key Bible verses in my small group at church today was this scripture verse and as we had a dialog about how it applied to our lives a friend of mine, Jenny, was sharing some difficulties she was having letting go of a situation between her brother & mother. She admitted to being a worrier her whole life and that she just couldn’t let go.

I felt like the Holy Spirit was reminding me of a close friend of mine (who is the Pastor of thriving church in Oregon) once told me that the Greek word for the word wait in the verse from Isaiah 40:31 is actually better defined as someone who waits on you. Like a waiter. Always there asking “is there something I can do for you? Do you need anything? How can help you?” I shared this with her and told her that every time she feels compelled to worry she should take it to him…let it go and ask…”what do you want from me Lord in this situation? How can I serve YOU? What do you want me to do Lord? That way she can transform herself from worrier to warrior for Christ.

I pray friend that today you would wait on the Lord. For everything. Renew your strength and not grow weary as you pursue Christian Vitality through exercise and better eating..

Rest on his word and you can rest assured…

Take some quiet time today and go through the exercise we’ve done before, where you take serious God’s scripture where he says to be still and know that I am God.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

There’s a song I learned about 30+ years ago that turned that scripture into a little worship song. I couldn’t find who wrote it, but here are the very true, but simple words:

Be still…and know…know that I am God. Quiet your heart and steal away…rest on my word…and you can rest assured…be still…and know that I am God…and know that I am God…and KNOW that I am God! – unknown

A simple command and some simple truth in that great little song.

Steal away…I believe, refers to you stealing yourself away from everything…taking some quiet time. Some Jesus Time (JT) And rest on my word because you can rest assured…what truth! Jesus loves you, his word (the Bible) tell us so. He died and rose again, so that we can have everlasting eternal life…not only that, but a life that is lived to the full while we are down here on Earth. A John 10:10 kind of full and abundant life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NIV

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10b NIV

So, once you’ve stolen yourself away and had some quiet time with your best friend here on earth and throughout eternity…let’s get you a new state of the YOUnion address. 🙂

Christian Vitality Prayer – It’ll change your life inside and out…if you let it.

There was a time in my life where I spent about 30-50% of my life traveling for a living. I was a regional sales manager for a high tech company in the electrical & electronics industry. What I did for work is not what matters, it’s what I did during all that down time on the plane at 33,000+ feet high and in airports and hotel rooms.

I spent those five years diving into every self-help & success book I could find. I also spent that time going through the Bible 5 times (The New Testament 10 times) and really getting to know the character of God and how he shapes how humans succeed in life. I’ll admit a lot of the authors of books I’ve read are secular (many are also strong Christians), but what I found to be true after all that research & study is the there is a:

Universal Conspiracy For or Against Your Individual Success, You Decide! – Dan Matejsek

26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:28 The Message

Putting it a different way, you get to decide whether you have a successful life or an unsuccessful one…a happy one or unhappy one…either way that you choose what kind of life you’re going to have, you’ll get it.

Once you decide & commit (submit) your plans (long-term & short-term) for your life to God and have his blessing you will succeed (Proverbs 16:3).

Whatever you do, do it as service to Him, and He will guarantee your success. Proverbs 16:3 Voice

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3 ESV

Another by-product (or extreme blessing to me and hopefully you) of that time of self reflection, Biblical Study and Science of Human Success studying, is a prayer (with some affirmation built into it) that I’ve prayed for literally the last 10 years straight. Some days it’s first thing in the morning and then again at night. Some days it’s a portion of the prayer to remind me of God’s promises. Sometimes it’s a portion right before I jump on the scale or after an apparent problem in my life.

This evening when you have time (and if you’re game, do it every day) please pray this prayer with me. Own it. If you can commit to memorizing it and praying it every morning and/or evening before you go to bed. I faithfully & firmly believe that God will use it to change your life on the inside & outside. It will likely help you believe different things about yourself, which will lead you to lose even more weight & fat off your body. It will touch areas of your life that you could not have ever imagined.

My prayer is that this prayer that God helped me craft, is a blessing to you and helps bring Spiritual & Physical Healing to you, that will result in a closer walk with the Lord Jesus and a Healthier, Happier You that has a longer stay here on earth as a result. In Jesus Name, Amen!

Oh God, Creator and Sustainer of the whole Universe. You are my loving Father and interested in every detail of my life. You only have good for me and desire to give me healing, wholeness, and forgiveness. Therefore, I place myself at your feet under your authority and your control & protection for your will to be done in my life.

Everything over which you’ve given me authority, I place at your feet…my family (name them), my loved ones (name them), my blessings (name them), my gifts, my talents, and my life experiences. Everything over which you’ve given me authority Lord I place at your feet…

[I often do this kneeling and physically act out (with my hands) laying things at his feet]

In Christ, I deserve, desire, and willing receive the abundance & prosperity of the Universe. It flows to me, is promised to me and is mine to keep. In return for my obedience to the Lord by fully utilizing the gifts he has given, the Universe benefits directly and indirectly by the value added by my obedient actions and prosperity.

All my debts have long since be paid for and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ and I honor the Lord by forgetting them and learning from them.

I retain focus and gain strength with help from the Holy Spirit of God and overcome all obstacles.

For yours is the Kingdom, the Power, and Glory forever and ever. Amen!

Christian Vitality Prayer – Dan Matejsek

What do you think? Awesome isn’t it.

I’ll spend the time in another post and go over the dozens of scriptures that were pieced together to help construct that prayer. I’m sure it resonated with you as most of it is right out of the Bible.

If you like it, print out this prayer and use it…daily…morning and night if you can. Pretty soon it will become a part of you like it has for me. Welcome Jesus & the Holy Spirit of God into your life as these truths become a reality in your prayer life and real life.

Fasting for Fat Loss!

Fasting for Fat Loss & Spiritual Growth

In modern-day church circles, at least in the USA, fasting seems to be an almost dying art. A mysterious custom from the days of yore, which most if not all Christians don’t practice and may not even understand the concept behind it.

I don’t kid myself to think that I know all there is to fasting, but I thought I’d do a little Bible study on fasting to give you the Biblical perspective of fasting and also give you a brief overview of all the benefits that modern science has determined in recent research. Turns out God has it right, fasting is good for you.

Biblical Wisdom about Fasting

Isn’t fasting only Old Testament stuff? It’s truly not for people in this day and age, right?

Wrong. There are almost as many references in the New Testament as Old Testament about fasting. Since we take most of our current Christian customs and practices from the New Testament to model the early church…it is absolutely for our day and age.

Why, Biblically, should we fast?

Fasting is a sign of submission to God’s authority and a way to honor him by following his commands. It is a way for us to also humble ourselves before him. James chapter 4 has a great promise that comes as a reward for humbling ourselves. “God will raise (exalt) the humble”.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:10 ESV

Jesus went without food for 40 days in the desert. So, if you want to know what Jesus would do. If he was around today, he would be praying and fasting.

The early church is also an example for us as they often “prayed & fasted” during important times in the church.

Fasting is absolutely something for the Christian in 2014 and beyond from a Biblical perspective.

How should we fast? It’s a personal one-on-one (secret) expression of your faith and God will reward you.

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:16-18 ESV

Why should we fast? To humble ourselves before the Lord. For a sign of repentance when we return to his ways.

When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. Psalm 69:10 ESV

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; Joel 2:12 ESV

When should we fast? In times of preparation. During times of prayer. When we are trying to get closer to God. During special times of commitment to God and asking for God’s mercy and blessing.

I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks. Daniel 10:3 ESV

And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Acts 14:23 ESV

Modern Science Backing the Benefits of Fasting

Why should we fast from a modern science perspective?

Fasting has been researched significantly for many years and some of the findings and positive ramifications it can have for our long-term health is astounding.

I could right volumes of books just going through all the research, but I’ll just ask that before you do any fasting that you research it yourself and absolutely, before you engage in longer-term fasting you consult with your doctor. For the most part, fasting in the Christian Vitality program and Christian Fatloss Program means skipping a meal, or refraining from eating after 8:00pm which is a commonly a held belief and encouraged practice by even the most conservative health practitioner.

For people in their later Christian Fatloss Cycles an option to increase the amount of fat loss is to implement what is commonly called Intermittent Fasting. It is typically refraining from eating for 12+ hours. It’s typically not recommended to fast for longer than 24 hours in most circles, but in VERY recent research it is deemed okay to go longer. Do your research and consult your doctor before doing so.

I implemented Intermittent fasting for 6 out of 7 days for cycles 2 – 5. In cycle 2 I was a little hit and miss, but was able to train my body to adapt to it and consistently, without fail, fasted for 16+ hours for 6 days per week in cycles 3-5.

There are several ways to implement it, that have been proven to be effective, both for increasing health and for increasing fat loss.

Some kinds of fasting can be every other day (called alternate day fasting), every day for short periods, fasting after a workout or exercise to help increase growth hormone production (to keep you young and vital) and variations. A popular one recently was called the 5/2 diet. Where your fasting for a couple of days and ate normally for the others.

The Christian Vitality Diet & Christian Fatloss Program is typically 12 hours or more if you are in later Fatloss Cycles. Some mainstream people would call this a “condensed eating window”. So, that’s the sustainable and practical version of what I did.

Here are just a few of the scientifically documented health benefits of fasting:

Longevity: It can help you live longer
Blood Lipids: It can help with you bad cholesterol levels.
It has been proven to be as or more effective than calorie restriction in overweight women to help repair damage from metabolic syndrome
Every other day (alternate day) fasting has been proven to lower LDL-c numbers and also reduce LDL particle size.

Celebrate & Rejoice your Christian Weight Loss Victories

When we are on weight loss program or just living life in general, it’s easy to forget to celebrate the small victories and rejoice & be glad.

Feel free to download these Christian Wallpapers for your phone or desktop and share them with friends and family.

Be blessed my friends.