We will soon get back to James and Colossians, but for the first two weeks of the year in the morning and evening services, I us to focus on our spiritual fitness.

This time of year we often think about eating better, losing weight, exercising more and getting into better physical shape. Most of us could improve in this area. However, we must not overlook our spiritual fitness. It is far too easy to become careless, mechanical and neglectful in our walk with the Lord. If God gave us a spiritual examination, our test results would likely reveal internal spiritual deficiencies.

Transition

Like physical training, our spiritual fitness training must begin with preparation. (Read Ezra 7:10) Before Ezra returned to Jerusalem from Babylon to begin his ministry there, he prepared his heart. This means that he made his heart ready. He provided what it needed. He furnished it. He directed it toward a target. He arranged it and set it in order.

Ezra began this new stage of his life by getting his heart ready and directed in three ways. As we enter 2017, we must do the same.

He Prepared His Heart to Seek the Lord

  1. Ezra knew that his heart was the key
    1. You will never become spiritually fit until your heart is passionate about it. King Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, was evil and self-centred. His mother was a heathen Ammonitess. He was spiritually very weak. Note what God records about him. (2 Chronicles 12:14) “And he [Rehoboam] did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.”
    2. Jehoshaphat a later king DID prepare his heart to seek the LORD (2Ch 19:13) and so DID Hezekiah (2Ch 30:19) and God was able to bless them. A passionate heart for the Lord really is the key to spiritual fitness.
    3. Here are some ways in which you can create a passion in your heart to seek the Lord.
      1. Believe! You must believe in your heart that God’s ways are right. You must believe that God’s word has the answers you need in life. (Psalms 119:160) “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” You must believe that God has a plan for your life. You must believe that God makes no mistakes.
      2. Submit! You must humble yourself before the Lord. You must be willing to obey Him even when your flesh does not want to. You must fear God respectfully and fear to displease Him.
      3. Desire! You must desire God’s will for your life. You must want it enough to obey Him. You must long for God’s will enough to sacrifice to follow it. Give this desire first place in your life. (Colossians 3:1-2) “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” (2) “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”
  2. Ezra sought the law of the Lord
    1. The law of the Lord is the Bible. The Bible is God’s mind concerning everything that God wants us to do.
    2. To seek the law of the Lord, Ezra had to spend time reading and meditating on the Bible. Ask God to open your eyes to things you need to learn as you study the Bible. (Psalms 119:18) “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” Prayerful Bible reading is as important to Spiritual Fitness Training as exercise is to physical fitness training. Until you discipline yourself to daily, prayerfully study the Bible, you will always be spiritually weak and sickly.
    3. Consider God’s instructions for Israel’s kings. (Deuteronomy 17:18) “And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:” (19) “And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:” (20) “That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.”
      ☆ Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD. He had a passion for God’s Word and so must we.

He Prepared His Heart to Obey the Bible

  1. Ezra got his heart ready to obey the Bible
    1. All obedience begins in the heart.
    2. Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us that our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked. We do not naturally want to obey God’s Word. We naturally serve ourselves. Thus, we must be willing to submit to the Lord.
    3. We must prepare our heart to obey God.
      1. Confess all known sin.
      2. Remove habits that keep you from obeying God.
      3. Daily surrender your heart to the Lord. Pray as did the Psalmist. (Psalms 86:11) “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.”
  2. Ezra noted what God wanted him to do.
    1. He was to do God’s statutes and judgments. Statutes and judgments describe God’s decrees and decisions. He was to prepare his heart to let God tell him what to do and what not to do.
    2. The Bible is to be our manual for life. It is our instruction book. Part of preparing your heart to do what God says is truly believing that the Bible is authoritative. Believe that it is trustworthy and true. It gives trustworthy instructions on child-rearing, obeying your parents, loving your wife, submitting to your husband, forgiving, putting away anger, tithing, dressing modestly, gender distinction, church attendance, and on countless other topics.
    3. Not only does the Bible contain specific commands, it also contains countless principles that reveal God’s mind concerning issues in life. Do not just read the Bible for information. Search for personal application. As we read the Bible or hear it preached, we must be willing to obey not just God’s commands but also God’s principles.

He Prepared His Heart to Share What He Learn

  1. Ezra thoroughly studied the Bible
    1. We seldom really know a subject until we know it well enough that we can teach it to others.
    2. The duty to teach others demands that we prepare our hearts to carefully study the Bible every day. Parents, as you study the Bible, look for principles that you can teach your children. Do not just teach them the Bible stories. Teach them ways to apply the stories to their lives.
  2. Ezra had a mission to teach others.
    1. Ezra was a priest. His mission was to teach the people the Bible and how to worship and serve the Lord.
    2. We too are priests. We ought to be able to teach others what we are learning in our personal Bible time with the Lord. If you never share with anyone what you are learning from your personal Bible study, that is usually indication that either you have no such time or it is shallow and not feeding your soul.
    3. We ought to tell unbelievers the gospel message as well.

Conclusion

None of us is as spiritually fit as we could be. We all could improve our Spiritual Fitness Training. That training must begin with PREPARATION! 1) We must prepare our hearts to seek the law of the Lord with a passion. 2) We must prepare our hearts to do what God says. 3) We must prepare our hearts to share what we learn with others. All preparation for Spiritual Fitness Training focuses on the heart. If your heart is not in it, it will never work. You will never become spiritually fit until it becomes your passion.

There are three more parts to this Spiritual Fitness Training series: Self-control, Discipline, and Exercise. Come back at 6 PM for the second part.

Song: I Am Resolved – 389
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Spiritual Fitness Training “Preparation”
1 January 2017 AM – Ezra 7:10 – Fitness17 – Scott Childs