“How healthy are you spiritually?”

That was the question in Bobby’s sermon from Titus 2 yesterday. People can put a great deal of thought and energy into physical health–dieting and exercise. You might not think that high school students are into health, but I’ve met many girls for meals and they order their cheeseburger “protein style”, so they can skip the carbs. One girl always gets salads but only with the dressing on the side. Another always chooses the 90 calorie “skinny lattes” when we meet at Starbucks. I’m amazed at the dedication some people have to going to the gym–they get up before dark, or won’t end their day till they’ve put in their minimum 30 minutes of sweat and agony. It is sad how we can be so careful to do what it takes to physically train our bodies and then treat our spiritual growth like an afterthought. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4:7-8 that

“…Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.“

There is no debate, godliness is of much greater and lasting value that physical health. But most Christians don’t have a plan for their spiritual health– no spiritual diet, no spiritual workout regimen, no concern for their spiritual calorie intake. They just react to life as it happens and try to do their best to remember to live out the sermons Sunday to Sunday.

Bobby and I use a tool in our ministry called The Spiritual Growth Chart. It has five categories–Bible Reading, Prayer, Meditation, Church Service, Witness. Starting out with where you were last week, you then write out a goal for each category. The chart has four weeks in between to help you pace yourself to be disciplined in those areas. It is meant to be used with your “personal trainer” or “nutritionist”–basically a mentor, someone farther along than you in the faith who will keep you accountable.

I hope you will even consider using The Spiritual Growth Chart for just the next four weeks. Just writing out how you are doing at training yourself to be godly and goals you should be working toward can be clarifying and motivating. Click here to download a PDF you can print to get started! Feel free to personalize it to make it your own. On my chart I’ve added “Bible Study” and “Memorization”–you can customize yours for areas you need to work on.

Carolyn Mahaney is one of my favorite authors. What I enjoy so much about her books is how consistently loyal she is to the Biblical text and how personal and practical she responds to those passages in her writing. Her two other books–Feminine Appeal, a book about Titus 2 and Girl Talk, a book for moms and daughters about Biblical womanhood–have been instrumental in my personal growth and ministry.

So, when I saw this book pop up on my Amazon suggested products page I was excited, especially because Caroyln wrote it with her three grown daughters who all contribute to the GirlTalk blog. That same week I visited the local Christian bookstore and bought it and after reading this review, I hope that is what you will do too!

Shopping for Time helped me think through my days and how I spend my time and I easily saw how I need to readjust a few priorities, step-it-up in some areas and completely overhaul others. I know that I don’t always manage the time God has given me with the intensity and purpose that I ought to, so as I read this book I began to see that even though I thought, “I’m doing my best” managing my time, I really wasn’t.

What I enjoyed most about this book were the five practical tips to help me evaluate and accomplish the things that God has called me to do as a Christian woman. Too often we are harried, frazzled and overwhelmed as we run around trying to get done all that we think we need to do each day. This book is not a “system” or 5-step plan to life success. It is simply the disciplines the Mahaney women have exercised over the years that have greatly maximized their usefulness for the Lord. Here is a glimpse at the 5 Time-Saving-Tips:

Tip #1–Rise early, they propose that you join the “5 AM Club” to reap benefits both for your spiritual life and the good of your family.

Tip #2–Sitting at Jesus’ Feet, making reading and studying God’s Word, prayer and meditation top priority.

Tip #3–Taking a Personal Retreat, a time to study God’s Word, read pertinent books to where you are in life, devise solutions to some of our problem areas and make goals and plans that are thought out and Biblical for the upcoming months.

Tip #4–Consider People by evaluating relationships carefully. Do your friends sharpen you? Do you have a mentor and are you a mentor to someone? Are you reaching out to others by being a friend? Are you evangelizing those who need salvation?

Tip #5–Plan to Depend: being productive in daily life. One thing in this chapter that has really helped me is what they call the “15:4 rule.” Fifteen minutes of planning in the morning, saves four hours of your day. When I read this chapter I started doing this the next morning and have found each day to be so productive because I wasn’t wasting time trying to nail down what I needed to do next.

I hope reading these five ideas that you have some ideas about how you may need to change your schedule tomorrow! This book is simple, easy-to read and short, only 94 pages! What made this book so helpful is that it’s not about teaching us how to perfectly execute our daily plans, but to make sure our heart is wholly God’s, focused on Him and His priorities, relying on Him to accomplish each task and being intentional about living every day for His glory!

We had a beautiful weekend! Our church held a great service on Good Friday. And we spent Sunday afternoon at my sister’s house relaxing. (To see a small album of our weekend, click here!)

What stands out to me most from remembering Christ’s resurrection this year is a sermon that Pastor Mike preached on Palm Sunday called “The Real Jesus.”

Christianity is not just about trusting but who I’m trusting in.

In Matthew 21 we see that the crowds waved palm leaves as Jesus entered Jerusalem and they shouted “Hosanna” which means “Save us now!” Five chapters later this same crowd is before Pilate shouting “Crucify him!” (Matthew 27:22)

Pastor Mike pointed out that it isn’t that the crowd was fickle as many people say, but really the problem was that they didn’t want the salvation that Jesus offered. They wanted to put their trust in a savior who would deliver them from the Romans by rising up politically. This same problem is happening today. So many people would say Hosanna–Save us now! But what kind of savior are they talking about?

When Hosanna means “relieve my pain” or “better my life” the one asking for that salvation will not find that in Jesus Christ because true salvation is from sin, not the pains and ills of life. Many people evangelize by saying that God is going to make life wonderful, but when Christianity becomes something about you, it is not Biblical.

The only right way to say “Hosanna” is when that means “Be my King!” This means that for better or for worse we are devoted to following Him. It is easy to say that we trust Him as our King, but this is seen in how we live, always striving to obey Him.

We need to make sure that we trust in the real Jesus, not who we wish He was or what we want Him to do for us. He isn’t a pain reliever or a life improvement program. He is Lord and we desperately need the salvation that He alone offers.

There is an old quote that says, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” I really enjoy reading, a lot more than exercise! The ultimate book we need to read to exercise ourselves spiritually is obviously God’s Word. If we don’t make time to pour over Scripture we shouldn’t give that time to any other books.

My favorite books to read are about the Christian life. I have found that they can serve a real purpose because they either spurred me on in my own faith or they sharpened my discernment by sending me back to Scripture to examine the book’s message.

This last Fall I read five books in a row and none of them were very good after that I had lost some of the excitement and definitely momentum of burning through books and have been trudging through a couple for the last few months. Then I saw a blog entry called the “Spring Reading Thing”…

Katrina from “Callapidder Days” has challenged bloggers to set goals for reading in the Spring (from March 20th to June 19th). It isn’t a club you have to join with rules and dues, it’s simply an opportunity to provide motivation to read.

This was the kick start I needed to get back to reading! I loved her idea of getting all your books together and making a stack on your desk or bedside table. I even went to the bookstore this week and bought one that I wanted to add to my stack! I’m not going to make a list of book titles or post a picture of how tall it is but I wanted to encourage any of you who maybe haven’t been reading much to take her suggestion.

If you need some ideas for some worthwhile books to read I hope you will check out my “Book Reviews” section (click HERE). Over the next couple of months you will see new book reviews here as I read through the stack I’ve made for Spring!

Over the weekend I was blessed to receive an e-mail from my college roommate, Meghan. She and I try to keep in touch as often as we can. I am always encouraged to hear her updates. Re-reading the e-mail tonight I was struck by her last line. After several paragraphs about what God is doing in her life she says, “In short, God is good.”Our praise and adoration of God is, at best, a brief and limited affirmation of Him. Meghan could have gone on and on but she had to try to put it in just a few words–God is good.

I started reading the gospel of Luke yesterday and in chapter 1, after Mary visits Elizabeth and the two talk about what God was working in them, Mary has an amazing song.

And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.”

Luke 1:46-55

We need to regularly remember God’s goodness in the past and present. Maybe you even want to have a song like Mary did, actually sit down and put some thought into how you have seen God work. Or maybe you just need to remember to give credit where it is due when you are sharing about something in your life. Our verbal assent to His goodness is such a small praise of His majesty. Let’s remember to glorify God for His goodness!