Worthy of a Frame

"I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." --Psalm 139:14

Read: Psalm 139

Where do you keep your pictures? I’m not talking about fun, random, cell phone snaps or Facebook profile images. I’m talking about the special ones –- those worthy of a frame. That’s where we need to start…the mantle of your heart.

You know, we’ve all heard the statement that if God had a mantle, your picture would be on it. And while I love knowing that, I wonder what you and I would actually look like? At first, that thought might sound a bit weird, awkward or even irrelevant. I suppose it would be if we were talking about the body, but God sees our hearts. And like we’ve said many times, life is not about the body, and our bodies -- these frames -- will most certainly not last heaven.

But if anyone knows our bodies, what they’re capable of, and most importantly, how healthy they were intended to be on earth, it’s Him. So I guess you could say, we’re just pictures of grace; souls He saw worthy...of a frame.

--Jimmy Peña

QUESTION: God loves our souls so much he framed them with bodies. How does knowing that change the way you view the importance of health? Please give us your comments below and please share this with your Facebook and Twitter communities.

DID YOU KNOW? Obesity is threatening national security, according to a new study, because one in four young adults is too overweight to join the military. In some states, as many as 44 percent of young adults, age 18-24, are obese and unfit to serve and protect.

Source: Mission: Readiness

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TEMPLE TEMPER

October 12, 2010Read: Proverbs 22

"A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control." --Proverbs 22:24-28

Jesus was love. He healed the sick, caused the blind to see and fed the masses.

Jesus was Lord. He hung from the cross, only to defeat death both spiritually and literally.

But Jesus was also man. He bled, he cried, he loved.

With His humanity came another very human trait: anger. One of the most famous anger-fueled outbursts in recorded history was the scene He caused at the temple in Jerusalem in the days before His crucifixion. Upset that the moneychangers that had more or less converted the temple in Jerusalem into an early-A.D. Wall Street, He shouted, threw coins and turned over tables. This depiction of a enraged Jesus is a stark contradiction to the gentle Savior that most of us like to think about but it's important to remember that his anger was purposeful and divine while ours is often petty and misguided.

In a society rife with stress-filled workplaces, conflict-riddled homes, polarizing political debate and seemingly interminable commutes, it is not uncommon for us to give in to our temper -- to lash out at those around us or have a Jesus-at-the-temple kind of outburst. But we are taught in Proverbs and hundreds of other places in scripture that anger is a destructive and polluting force in our lives. In anger, we tend to exhibit the least Christ-like parts of ourselves. Our tongues sharpen, but our sensitivity to those around us dulls. We sling harsh words or worse, often leaving a shameful wake of hurt and despair.

James 1:20 reminds us that man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. As with other sin, our goal should always be to get better everyday -- to systematically stamp out behavior that can harm us (or those around us). It's not to say that you won't have a fleeting moment of fury the next time you are wronged, but how you deal with it (Ephesians 4:26-27) means everything, both to those around you and in the eyes of the Lord.

--E.V.

OBESITY: AN OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD The high cost of America's weight problem in the workplace

Those who struggle with their weight sometimes come to the conclusion (read: rationalization) that obesity is a "victimless" crime -- that they are somehow only hurting themselves. Well, there's a mounting body of research that is proving just the opposite -- that rising obesity numbers are costing our country billions each year. A new study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, states that the U.S. economy suffers a hit of over $70 billion as a result of an obese work force. This number is measured by a variety of factors including lost work days and down productivity.

For the full story on the Duke University study, click here.

>> SECURITY THREAT: To find out how America's weight problem has become a national security issue, visit Mission: Readiness.

>> PRAYFIT HEADLINES: PrayFit founder Jimmy Pena spoke to the Tyler Paper to promote his upcoming guest-speaking appearance. Read the full article here.

SUPER SAVIOR

August 20, 2010Read: Isaiah 53 “But he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities and by his stripes we are healed.” –Isaiah 53:5

If you happened to see the Kentucky Derby earlier this year, you were witness to a fantastic story, both on and off the track. One man’s name was selected in a raffle among 67,000 others, then he was given $100,000 to place a bet on any horse in the field. Winner take all.

When Glen Fullerton entered Churchill Downs that morning, all he had was a gift and a choice.  And after all the pre-race advice, he used both.

The split-second that Super Saver crossed the finish line in front of nineteen other horses to win the fastest two minutes in sports, Glen Fullerton became a wealthy man.

It seems we walk into this life a lot like Glen did the Derby; with a gift, a choice and a super Savior to do the rest.

--J.P.

OBESITY: A SECURITY ISSUE?

If you think that fitting into our clothes better is America's only incentive to get fit, think again. The problem, illustrated by the following statistics, has continued to make it apparent that our declining dedication to health is putting us at much greater risk than we may think.

>> The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classify more than 34 percent of American adults age 20 and older as "obese" -- or having a body mass index higher than 30.

>> Up to 9 million Americans ages 17 to 24 -- or nearly 27 percent of the prime military recruiting age demographic -- are "too fat to serve in the military," according to an April study from Mission: Readiness, a non-profit group composed of senior retired military officials.

>> According to the study by Mission: Readiness, more than 140,000 individuals failed their military entrance physicals between 1995 and 2008 because of weight problems -- a 70 percent increase over that same period.

Read the full story by ABC News: TOO FAT TO FIGHT?