Unlock the Door
"They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers." --Acts 1:14
Peter denied. Thomas doubted. Fear filled the upper room. Both the cross and the tomb were void of any sign of their allegiance, so they hid. Then they heard His voice, felt His scars and were filled with the Spirit. Before long someone said, "Unlock the door."
You and I? We deny. We doubt. And boy do we let fear fill our days. But the same reasons that sent the disciples underground -- an empty cross and tomb -- are why we have faith in the first place. So as we begin a new week, take a few seconds and pause. Stand in the room with Peter, Thomas and the others. Look around at everyday men and women with an extraordinary mission. Like them, beyond your door is a world that needs the gospel according to you. Could be at work, at the gym or even at school, but as you leave your room, imagine the disciples doing the same. Same Jesus, same mission.
Now, somebody unlock the door.
--Jimmy Peña
WORKOUT OF THE WEEK: Delts & Abs
To start the week, we present a shoulders and abs workout that provides silhouette-enhancing benefits for both men and women. You begin the workout with a total-body move and work your way through progressively more targeted work.
"You start out in the strongest possible position, utilizing your entire body to train the shoulders and slowly begin isolating the different delt heads," says Jimmy Pena, MS, CSCS, founder of PrayFit. "The result is a better v-taper. Stronger shoulders give the visual appearance of a slimmer waistline."
DELTS Dumbbell Squat-Overhead Press* Dumbbell Upright Row Lateral Raise Front raise Bent-over Lateral Raise
ABS Standard Crunch Reverse Crunch Double Crunch
--Perform three sets of 10-12 reps on each exercise in the order listed, resting no more than 60 seconds between sets.
Dumbbell Squat-Overhead Press With a pair of dumbbells, kettlebells or even soup cans, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointed out slightly. Hold the dumbbells at shoulder level. With your abs tight, chest up and back flat, squat down 10-12 inches then press through the floor to extend your legs as you press the weights overhead to full arm extension. Lower the dumbbells back to your shoulders and repeat.