Cross Training

Lean and Mean

“ . . .lean not on your own understanding;” (Proverbs 3:5b)

Done much leaning lately?

Webster’s New World Dictionary, 4^th Edition, tells us that to lean means to bend the body so as to rest part of one’s weight on something; to rely (on or upon); or to tend (toward or to something).

Why lean?

To take a load off. Physically, if you just sprained your ankle or have cranky legs and knees like Cynthia Rylant’s character, Mr. Putter. Emotionally, when you need advice for a challenging situation, or simply for comfort, like snuggling up to watch TV.

When you lean on something, you want to make sure it will hold you up.

Ever been let down? By a weak chair? By a friend?

Solomon reminds us what not to lean upon: our own understanding. Why? Several reasons:

• Our understanding is incomplete. We can’t see the whole picture the way God does. Paul says in I Corinthians 1:25: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”
• Our understanding is tainted by sin. It tends or leans towards evil. Jeremiah tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”(Jeremiah 17:9) Leaning on our own understanding is like the toddler playing hide and seek who covers his own eyes and thinks you can’t see him.

If we lean against something to take a load off, leaning on ourselves adds to the burden. It requires us to be right and to be in control and, often, that’s not the case. When you see it in print–lean on ourselves–it just doesn’t make sense.

Questions:

On what things do you lean?

To rest against? To rely upon? To tend towards? Why do you lean?

Examine your responses. Can these things take the weight you are putting on them?

When have you leaned on your own understanding rather than on God’s?

How did that work?

Why do we have a tendency to lean on ourselves?

Is it hard to accept God’s word regarding our heart and our level of wisdom?

Cross Training

Linked In

(Wisdom is speaking)“If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.” (Proverbs 1:23)

Like Pooh in the tree after too much honey, do you find yourself stuck spiritually? Not moving? Does God seems quiet?

Wisdom speaks in the above verse from Proverbs and she shows us an interesting link:

Obedience and Intimacy

When God, through Wisdom, brought something to the attention of His children, they did not respond.

What happened next? Silence.

Let’s flip the scenario. If His children had responded, what would have happened?

• “I would have poured out my heart to you.”
• “I would have made my thoughts known to you.”

Intimacy.

A new closeness with the Father.

So, are you stuck? Has God spoken and you’ve ignored Him? Ask Him where you got off track and respond with the next step of obedience.

Questions:

Have you ever gotten stuck, literally?

What was it like?

How did you get free?

Why do you think Scripture links obedience with intimacy?

Is that logical? Fair?

Cross Training

Training Wheels

“Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.” (Proverbs 19:18)

When our kids learned to ride bikes, they were chaos on wheels. They swerved right. They swerved left. Starting required a curb. Stopping involved first aid.

They needed practice, so we started with training wheels. Then, we went to the local track and challenged them to stay in a lane. The lines marked a boundary and helped them control their body and their bike. Soon, they could ride, turn, and stop on a dime–without the need of the first aid kit.

Learning to maneuver through the challenges of life requires some practice too. Family rules and their consequences, chores, and the giving and losing of privileges provide training wheels and lane lines so kids progress to the sidewalks and streets of life’s neighborhood. These help kids master their wills to gain the self-control they need.

Bike accidents are ugly. I know. Yet, life’s accidents leave far more than scars and the memory of eight weeks in a cast. According to God, not to provide discipline is to be a willing party to a child’s death.

Kids, don’t fight the training wheels. Allow Mom and Dad to help you develop the self-control you need. Trust them.

Parents, keep at it. The harvest is coming.

Questions:

How did you learn to ride a bike? What safeguards did you have?

Tell me about your present level of cycling? Are there higher levels?

Now, examine your spiritual training. What safeguards have your parents put in place?

What could happen if those safeguards were removed before you were ready? How can you master a skill, like time management, so the safeguard’s removal is appropriate?

Cross Training

Story by God

“The LORD works out everything for his own ends—even the wicked for a day of disaster.” (Proverbs 16:4)

I love a good story and the key to a good story is conflict. Problems. Obstacles. Bad guys. Without them, you have no story. Think The Lord of the Rings without Sauron and his orcs. The Three Little Pigs without the wolf. Madeline without appendicitis. Ruby without little brother Max.

The conflicts on our favorite stories often mirror those in real life. Bullies. Standardized tests. Tryouts. Siblings. God assures us in Proverbs–He has a plan. Take a moment and read the verse above. Note the word everything.

Everything—the wicked, the bad day, the conflicts, the obstacles—is being worked out for His ends, His goals, His purposes.

And He is good.

If today is filled with struggle, be the hero or heroine of your own story. With God’s strength, face your nemesis. Overcome your obstacles. Press through to your problem’s solution. You are not alone. God is working everything for His own end.

Questions:

What is your favorite story?

What is the story’s problem or conflict?

How does it shape or change the hero?

What is your greatest challenge?

What potential change can you see?

How can you and God see this through together?

Cross Training

Knocking Down Blocks

“The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” (Proverbs 14:1)

Blocks. Colored wooden ones in all shapes. Cardboard bricks. My boys used them to carefully construct castles, army barracks, and forts. A well-built structure provided protection for their valiant warriors, army men, cowboys, or caped crusaders, a place to rest, regroup, or dig in for a fight. Still, even after meticulous building, knocking down the blocks afterwards always brought a thrill.

As my boys grew older, they exchanged their blocks for Lincoln Logs and later, for Legos. Now, words have become our blocks and with them, we build relationships. Friendship fortresses. Camaraderie construction. Buddy building.

And building is fun. Some friendships are built for a season—peewee football or middle school band. Others endure for a lifetime.

Solomon warns us not to smash the blocks. We have a choice—to build or to demolish. Smashing a friendship has far greater consequences than picking up a pile of blocks on the floor. How are you using your words?

Questions:

What did you like to build with when you were little? What did you build?

Did your materials change as you grew older? Did your structures change? How?

Consider the different relationships you have: family, friends, teammates.

Describe the construction for each one. Are they different?

What is your tendency–to build up or to tear down? Positive words or negative ones?

Cross Training

Treasure Hunter

“The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his innermost being.”(Proverbs 20:27)

I love the scene in the movie, National Treasure, when the team has been trapped underground and left for dead by the bad guys. Ben Gates and company enter a dark room. He finds a spot with oil and ignites it with his torch. Immediately, a vast chamber full of treasure is illuminated by the fire. The scope reaches beyond any they could have imagined and the objects there are priceless.

God is also in the business of treasure hunting.

His treasure? You.

God has walked the rooms of your heart. He has searched every corner. He has catalogued and documented every gift He ever gave you. He knows the masterpiece that is you because He crafted you Himself. He knows what you’re thinking and why.

And He loves you.

Sometimes, it’s easy to feel frustrated or misunderstood–that stand alone feeling that nobody “gets” you. God gets you. He knows. He understands. He has searched you out and is content to stay.

So, when no one understands, when the blank looks abound, draw near to Him.

He gets you. You are His treasure.

Questions:

What would be treasure for you?

Why is God’s perspective different? Or is it?

What would God find in your treasure room?

What would be there that is of value to Him?

Are you encouraged to look for treasure in others now? How would you do it?

Cross Training

Balancing the Seesaw

“Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or I may become poor and steal. And so dishonor the name of my God.”(Proverbs 30:7-9)

When was the last time you rode a seesaw? Do you remember trying to find a friend about your size, then pushing off to go high before slamming back down with a thud?

Up. Down. Up. Down.

Agur, in this passage of Proverbs, steers us away from the extremes. Too high and we may forget God, caught in the grip of self. Too low and we hit the bottom looking for a way out—debt, dishonesty, bankruptcy.

Instead, Agur encourages balance: be content with our daily bread. Know when enough is enough. And where is our enough? It’s different for everyone and only God can show you. Once He does, obedience becomes a choice.

High, low, or balanced? Where are you on the seesaw?

Questions:

What are your tendencies when finances get tight? Do your kids pick up on your stress?

What are your tendencies when there is abundance?

What does your enough look like?

How do you determine that?

If you have kids, how would they describe the financial climate of your home: high, low, or balanced? Why?

Cross Training

Baby Steps

“Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?”(Proverbs 20:6)

Well, it’s April. How are those New Year’s resolutions coming? Have you lost weight? Read the entire Bible? Memorized the book of Romans?

Nah, me neither. Let me encourage you to step away from January’s lofty vows and instead, try some baby steps. The proverb above asks the question: “a faithful man who can find?”. Faithfulness consists of believing God means what He says and backing it up with some action. Lace up your cross trainers and let’s start walking.

1)    “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”(Deuteronomy 6:5)

Listen to one worship song today—in the car, in the shower, or in the kitchen while you fix dinner.

2)    “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”(Matthew 22:39)

Greet, hug, and kiss every member of your immediate family today and tell them you love them–even if the trash is overflowing and their dirty, stinky socks are on the floor. Again.

3)    “ . . . but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work…”(Exodus 20:10)

Start planning now and make Sunday a family day. No laundry, shopping, or work, house or otherwise. Don’t think about touching that computer. Use paper plates and have fun.

Faithfulness. One step, one choice at a time.

Questions:

Did you make a New Year’s resolution? If so, how is it going?

In what area would you like to see change?

What is a basic command God has given that you find easy to avoid?

What baby step of obedience can you take this week?

Discuss as a family or with your spouse and have some accountability.

Cross Training

Open Hands

“One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.”(Proverbs 11:24)

Spring’s bright colors chase away the browns and greys of winter. Bradford pears decked in bridal white send showers of petals through the streets as an unrelenting north wind refuses to leave for its summer sabbatical. Blossoms dress grey limbs in pink and purple, but green leaves are coming. Promises of strawberries, nests of baby birds, and warmer temperatures lift my heart and beg me to come outside and play.

Examples of God’s withholding? Hardly.

Instead, He lavishes us with color, warmth, and a hope in future things. Summer’s watermelons, lemonade by the pool, and sweet Texas peaches followed by autumn’s golden leaves, orange pumpkins, and crisp red apples.

God throws down a challenge in Proverbs. Give freely, and just watch what you will gain. Withhold, and when you finally open those tight little hands, you’ll find them empty.

So, how do we give? What do we have to lavish on another? Where do we begin?

Is there an elderly person or a single parent in your neighborhood that could use some help with yard work or spring-cleaning?  As school winds down, chances are supplies are dwindling too. Perhaps extra pencils, paper, and crayons would help. How about cleaning out closets and drawers? Gently used clothing can be a huge help for a single parent family.

Now, let’s kick it up a notch. What about sacrificial giving? What are you willing to give up, say, for a week, in order to fund some extra giving? A Starbucks or Sonic habit? Time?

Or, how about doing something for fun like baking cookies or cupcakes and sharing them with your neighbors, just because? How about hosting a neighborhood car/bike wash with the proceeds going to a local charity?

Spring into action and give. Freely.

Questions:

How would you describe God’s generosity?

As His child, what attitudes can you develop that will model and reflect God’s generosity?

What keeps you from being generous? Is it a struggle?

Brainstorm. What will your first step be?

Are you willing to go to the next level and give sacrificially?

Cross Training

Guard Duty

Judea. Not the best assignment for a Roman legion. Nor for a governor. These men entered a hostile country with a culture and religion vastly different from their own. Temples and sacrifices, they could relate to, but one God? A coming Messiah?

Seriously?

Yet numerous Romans are drawn into the Easter story:

• Pilate and his wife with her strange nightmare (Matt. 27:19)
• The soldiers at the Praetorium responsible for Jesus’ flogging, his crown of thorns, and royal robes (Matt. 2:27-31)
• The centurion at the cross who not only experiences an earthquake, but proclaims, “Surely he was the Son of God.” (Matt. 27:54)
• The soldiers posted at the tomb who witnessed yet another earthquake and an angelic appearance. Scripture records they shook from fear and became as dead men. (Matt. 28:1-4)

Think of the conversations over the next week: Friday afternoon soldiers with Sunday morning guards, Friday afternoon soldiers to Friday afternoon centurion, Friday afternoon centurion to the legion commander, the legion commander and Pontius Pilate, Pilate and the missus. Up and down the chain of command, eyewitness reports flew. Was the information just another briefing, a report to be filed (or scrolled?)?

Or was it life changing?

Questions:

Look at Matthew 28:1-4 and 11-15. Note, not all of the soldiers on guard went to the chief priests. How do you think the scene played out when both sets reported to their CO? (That’s Commanding Officer for you civilians.)

Look at Matthew 27: 50-55. Why would the centurion and the other soldiers identify Jesus as the “Son of God”? Was it a term they heard from the crowd (vs. 36-44) or did something in their own religion connect with what they witnessed?

Pilate also struggled with Jesus: who He was and how he (Pilate) should handle the case. What made this case a special challenge for the Gentile governor? Normally Pilate would not have cared. What changed?

Do you identify with any of these groups?

Have you seen similar struggles in people you know?

What has made this same information life changing for you?