Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

This week’s focus from the Holy Spirit is muscles. We will seek His wisdom on identifying, developing and using our spiritual muscles. Today we’ll begin with a working definition of spiritual muscles.

A definition I found on Google says, muscles have a range of functions from pumping blood and supporting movement to lifting heavy weights or giving birth. Muscles work by either contracting or relaxing to cause movement. This movement may be voluntary (meaning the movement is made consciously) or done without our conscious awareness (involuntary).

Today’s scripture, Ephesians 6:10‭-‬13 (NLT), encourages us…
A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

Consider…
According to answers.com the phrase be strong appears in the Bible (KJV) 62 times. This suggests the strength of our spiritual muscles are important to our faith journey here on earth.

Today’s scripture is one of the many encouragements inspired by the Holy Spirit for us to be strong. It exhorts us to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power. Don’t miss the subtilty. Paul’s specificity to be strong in the Lord, suggests we can be strong in things other than the Lord.

Paul told his protégé Timothy…
Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” – 1 Timothy 4:7‭-‬8 NLT

Our muscles help us achieve our goals and purposes. Although they may not be the vital organs, they are necessary for each organ to accomplish it’s God given purpose. For example, The heart muscle, or myocardium, comprises the middle and thickest layer of the heart wall. The myocardium lies between the endocardium, which lines the inner chambers, and the epicardium, the inner pericardial layer that surrounds and protects the heart.

Now I must admit, all that I know about the myocardium is what I just googled, copied and pasted here. However, what stands out to me is that it helps surround and protect my heart. That just brought Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) to my mind…
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

God telling us to guard our hearts means they need protection. And based on what we just read about the heart muscle, we know that means we need a protective layer to surround our heart. The Holy Spirit guided me to Ezekiel 11:18‭-‬20 (ERV) to connect the physical and spiritual heart protection dots.
The Lord said…
When my people come back, they will destroy all the terrible, filthy idols that are here now. I will bring them together and make them like one person. I will put a new spirit in them. I will take away that heart of stone, and I will put a real heart in its place. Then they will obey my laws and my commands. They will do the things I tell them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.’”

So going back to today’s scripture we understand to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, means He is the muscle that surrounds and protects our hearts. Here’s the caveat, our passage from Ezekiel begins with…
When my people come back, they will destroy all the terrible, filthy idols that are here now. I will…

Our spiritual muscles development requires our singular focus on God!
You see God is not our spiritual spotter in our muscle building, He’s the tendon that holds everything together.

To be clear, the only heart that beats for God is the one completely yielded to Him.

So today, put your all on the altar, which is God’s work out bench where we can find and develop our spiritual muscles to live for Him!

Oh yeah, I was supposed to give a working definition of spiritual muscles. Let’s try this…
Spiritual muscles help…

• Christ’s sin cleansing blood to empower us
• Holy Spirit life-giving power to support us
  …all to live and move victoriously over the heavy weight sin, and abundantly in our new life in Christ!

These are the muscles we will work on building this week! But it all starts with being strong in the Lord by letting the Holy Spirit control our hearts.

Today’s song is…
Is Your All On The Altar

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)