PUBLISHER’S LETTER
He was one tough son-of-a-gun. That was the kind of thing they said at my grandfather’s funeral many years ago. And it was true. He told me of experiences like getting pinned under the hydraulic bed of an old dump truck and nearly severing his foot and losing his life. He demonstrated alongside me when I was a youth time and again how to work in the garden with determination and toughness until the job was done - and done well. Later in life I'd drive nails fully - firmly - ferociously into tough stubborn wood and with each swing speak with resolve, "TOUGH - AS - NAILS!"
To be like Jesus is to be as tough as Jesus.
More recently, but still several years ago, my granddaughter fell down while running through the house, smacking her face to the floor. It really hurt and she started crying. I immediately responded by scooping her up into my arms and saying, “Hey there little girl, you’re all right. Let’s get back up and I’ll run with you.” Rubbing her nose, she was listening and considering the idea when my wife’s voice caught her ear, “Oh poor baby, are you all right? That has to hurt. Let me kiss it.” Immediately she realized just how much she really did hurt and her crying escalated into uncontrolled whaling. She reached out to my wife and chose the “motherly” empathy over the “fatherly” moxie. It's true that in fact children need both --- and you in your spiritual journey do too.
Our understanding of God’s nature to intimately care for us has led to elevating the reassurance found in such things as the inspiring poem Footprints In The Sand and oft quoted sayings like, “God never said the road would be easy but he also said he would never leave you nor forsake you”, “I’m not perfect, just forgiven” and “When God closes a door, He opens a window”. All of these are true and reflect the generous, nurturing and aware nature of God. To be embraced by an empathetic God that exudes these qualities is without question life transforming.
GOD IS NO WIMP
But there is another nature of God that is bolder and more assertive. It gives us the daily moxie to face life with courage. God required His son Jesus Christ to be tough as nails. And it wasn’t just so that God could prove a point or so that Jesus could be the ultimate example. It wasn’t because God got some sick perverted thrill by allowing His son to suffer extreme pain and physically die.
I think few passages in the Bible give us such an insight into God as when Christ, just before He died on the cross cries out, “My God, Why have you forsaken me?” This is beyond poignant and startling. It defies everything we know about a good and proper father/son relationship. It calls into question what we “know” about God. To understand that God intended for us to see and learn from this element of pain and tension is to grow in Him. It reinforces another Bible verse that asks, “Who can know the mind of God?”
In Barnes notes on the Bible this question is explored further, “No one can understand God. No one can fully comprehend his plans, his feelings, his views, his designs. No one by nature, under the influence of sense and passion, is either disposed to investigate his truths, or loves them when they are revealed. But the Christian is influenced by God. He has his Spirit. He has the mind of Christ; who had the mind of God. He sympathizes with Christ; he has his feelings, desires, purposes, and plans. And as no one can fully understand God by nature, so neither can he understand him who is influenced by God.”
Throughout the February/March 2013 issue of Faith & Fitness Magazine you'll find TOUGH TIPS - useful ways you can immediately apply wisdom and creative ideas to grow physically and spiritually.
So, while God is the ultimate definition of compassion and grace it is critical to also understand that God is no wimp. His power – and the power that you have in Him goes beyond your greatest strength. It dares beyond your most determined boldness. This power defines confidence beyond the deepest values and has a rugged influence that transforms tough into eternally invincible. As you read this issue of Faith & Fitness Magazine know that God is no wimp. Know with full confidence that only in Christ can you have the strength to rise above your fears, temptations and self-created limits.
Live the life God intends. A life that is forgiven and forgives. A life that is lifted above the pain when you fall. A life that proclaims: That's one tough Jesus!
Physical training is all about preparing to be stronger. To go beyond your physical strength is to grow with a spirit that can’t be shaken, beat or destroyed. That same spirit that was in Jesus – let it be in you.
Train strong in Christ,
-Brad Bloom, Publisher
