Healthy Temple

Good morning, Bloggers!!

I've entered the fourth week of staying in shape by going to the gym 3+ times a week, drinking lots of water (refrain, as much as you can, from HCFS liquids such as soda products and high-energy drinks and excessive use of alcohol), eating veggies and lean meats, using extra virgin olive oil instead of fatty dressings and recover well from all the strenuous activities (avoiding all kinds of stress-related obstacles). There are alot of people smoking cigarettes and cigars. It is such a nasty habit.

In addition to this, I'm working in keeping a positive attitude to self, my family and others. It's good for the heart and soul! Negative thoughts and feelings attacks every potential of good things. When I stay away from fats and sugar, I do all I can to stay away from all the negative things in life (people and society). Even though, I do all I can to be a positive influence to others living a negative life, I pray that they'll see an example that I show to them.

Why am I doing all this? Why is this so important? What does this have to do with God?

Because this body of mine is the temple of the Lord!

Now, let's pretend that we're the actual "temple" in Jerusalem and there's alot of selling and marketing going on in us (temple). Jesus entered the "temple" finding alot of things He doesn't like. Well, let's change the tone! He hates it! He's driving mad finding things are wreaking havoc in His "temple" (us)! In Mark 11:15, "On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves,..." Can you imagine Him going into your life (temple) and overturning things around?? When you're not taking care of God's temple in you, you're making Jesus and the Holy Spirit very uncomfortable. I've often felt that way. When I start uncaring for my own body (temple), I'm not making things easy for Jesus. Even though, He ask that we give Him our yoke for His is lighter, it seems we take it back and continue on with the burdens of life. (Mt. 11:29-30)

"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16

I think this is very easy to memorize.. The famous verse, John 3:16, we can remember 1 Corinthians 3:16 which talks about the "temple of God". The "temple of God" are those who believe in Jesus and have been baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Other Scripture, also in the same book, is: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;.." In other words, we're to keep the "temple" sacred, not defiling it, not prostituting it, not to desecrate it which is a horrid sacriledge. It's like robbing God in the worse sense! There are tons of examples in the Old Testament in how Israel defiled the temple of the Lord and that the Lord had to give just punishment for their actions.

"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." 2 Corinthians 6:16

If we're to defile the "temple" we have in our very life, what then will God be walking among? Will the temple be filled with various ingredients of the world: smoke, excessive use of alcohol, promiscuous sex (outside of marriage) and gluttony?? Not only the physical substances like these above, but the filth and negativism of the mind and heart (the wildly blatant, tasteless examples of the world and its influences). I wouldn't want a "rotten, bad apple ruining the whole batch"!! Either we get rid of that "bad apple (temple)" or do "EXTREME TEMPLE IMPROVEMENT"!! And, of course, you become what you read (see)!!

"Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!" 1 Corinthians 6:15

Remember, He's the Head of the church and we're that church. Church isn't a building or a structure or a physical place. The church are made up of people. The "temple" of the Lord is the church (2 Cor. 6:16)!!

"So you must honor God with your body.” (1 Cor. 6:20 NLT)

Here's an excerpt from Rick Warren made a couple weeks ago..

How do you honor God with your body? It’s simple. You take care of it. This is a good time for a confession. In January 2005, I started asking God what he wanted to do with me for the next 25 years. I started thinking about the P.E.A.C.E. Plan and what God wanted to do through the global Church in the coming years. It didn’t take long for me to realize I was going to need a lot more energy. I needed to get in shape. So I confessed to God that I hadn’t been in the kind of shape he needed me to be in the past. Then I told him that I wanted to honor him with my body and consciously take better care of it from now on.

Psalm 119:73 (TLB) says, “You made my body, Lord. Now give me the sense to heed your laws.” God set up the principles of good health. He says there’s a balance between sleeping, eating, and exercising. He says you need all three.

My guess is that everyone reading this article needs to work on at least one of these three issues. Some of you aren’t getting enough sleep. You’re tired all of the time. And often it’s because you’re staying up and doing something that isn’t all that important. By having just one extra hour of sleep on most nights, you’d be surprised at how much more effective you’d be in ministry. God can’t use somebody who’s tired all the time.

Psalms 127:2 (NLT) says, “It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.” For some of you the most spiritual thing you could do is go to bed. You need to get your rest.

Some of you need to control your eating. I don’t know why God made food taste so good. He could have made it all taste like oatmeal, but he didn’t. So we need to practice self-control. Just because it tastes good doesn’t mean it does good things to our bodies. What you put in your stomach – and what you don’t – matters.

And of course, you need exercise. We all do. Many of us will start a whole new exercise regiment this month – hoping to start the new year off right. Stick to it. Put it on your schedule. Don’t let it become just a whim that you forget about by February. This is the year to get this right.

You can have a wrong attitude or a right attitude toward your body. What’s the wrong attitude? You can neglect it – just not pay attention to what you are doing to it. Reject it – tell God you want someone else’s body. And you can perfect it. Worshiping your body is just as wrong as worshiping anything else.

But the right attitude is to respect it and protect it. That’s what God wants you to do with your body. Why? Because God created it, Jesus paid for it, and the Holy Spirit lives in it.

1 Corinthians 9:25 (NLT) says, “Athletes practice discipline and self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.” We take care of our bodies because we want to please God. We’ll be rewarded for that in eternity.

Depressed.. Fatigued.. Confused.. Whacked out of order.. Need a "Extreme Temple Improvement" done?? Come and see me or email me. But. You need to do your part and be consistent and discipline yourselves.

Go get in shape and build a healthier temple – and watch God transform your mind, body and soul then He will use you in ministry more effectively this year!!!