encouragement and wisdom for the journey : a devotional

Jeannie BlocherPresident, Body & Soul Fitness

the search & rescue missionAt one level or another we are all searching. We search for meaning in life. We search for a way to make a positive difference. We search for answers to the hard things that happen to us. We search for hope when we are tempted to despair. We search for balance, peace, simplicity. We search for joy. We search for love.

In Body & Soul we believe that we find answers to all of these things in God. By seeking him, listening to him and following him, we find meaning. We find peace that passes understanding and hope based in eternal life. We find joy unspeakable and agape love that is unselfish and everlasting.

We invite you on a journey of searching, finding and being rescued, as you exercise with us to our search & rescue session music!

Blessings,

Walk on Water Can’t LiveWithout You

Feel It My Heart is Alive

Forget About the World Nothing is Impossible

Out of My Head Save Your Life

Impossible Diamonds

Move (KeepWalkin) From the Day

Backseat Driver Prodigal

Never Say Never Warrior

Breathe In,Breathe Out Flawless

Rise from the Ashes SamePower

You’re Not Alone This is my Year

Give InCompass

New Lease on Life

Family Force 5 Owl City TobyMac Planetshakers V. Rose Planetshakers Fireflight Newsboys Building 429 Hawk Nelson TobyMac I Am They TobyMac Sidewalk Prophets Family Force 5 Steven Curtis Chapman The Afters MercyMe Group 1 Crew Jeremy Camp Owl CityFamily Force 5LeCrae w/Crystal NicoleJonathan Thulin MercyMe

So

ng

s t

ha

t In

sp

ired

th

is D

evo

tio

na

l

What are you searching for today? Do you need answers to life’s complex issues? Are you hurting and need to be rescued? We all feel that way sometimes, and we cry out like the author of this song: “All the thoughts in my head spinning ‘round like a hurricane, and life leaves me so confused. When I trip and fall I collapse like a tidal wave, so I’m crying out to you. You reached down out of nowhere and picked my heart up off the floor. You put my life back together and I’m not broken any more. You’re my only wish for a dream come true and it goes like this—will you come to my rescue? You’re the only hope that I’m clinging to and I hope You know that I can’t live without you!” 1

As the song clearly shows, it is God that we need to cry out to. It is God who is our hope and our rescuer. God wants us to ask for help; he wants us to seek him and search for him with all our heart. He says so in his love letter to us, the Bible: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”2 There are open doors that await. God comes to our rescue. Don’t hesitate to ask for help! 1Can’t Live Without You by Owl City 2Matthew 7:7-8

Search like David SearchedDo you feel trapped by your past? Do you dwell on thoughts that hinder you from enjoying the good plans God has for you today and tomorrow? The famous King of Israel, David, lived in a way that models for each of us how to search for God’s unique, good plan for our future, regardless of our past. David began his search by honestly and bluntly telling God how he felt.1 Do you need to talk to God honestly before your head hits the pillow this evening? Next David spoke truth to himself about the size and character of his God. We can read his thoughts in Psalm 1.

David’s God was a powerful, personal God with a divine capacity to love. Do you have a big view of God-a view that pictures him as vastly bigger than any problem you’ve ever had? Lastly, David earnestly and humbly asked God for direction and assistance. David expected God to guide and help him. God was his source of hope. “God is so much bigger than our biggest problems. God is so much better than our best thought. He is infinitely wiser and more gracious and powerful than anything we can imagine.2 Follow David’s example and begin your search for his plans for your future, they are better than you can even dream.3

1Psalm 71, 42, 62, 27 2Mark Batterson, “Draw the Circle” p. 56 3I Cor. 2:9, Psalm 33:11

Faith or Fear?What rules your life? Do you live in fear and concern over what might happen next—stressed about the news or the weather or real issues in your personal life? In the first song of the session it describes this feeling: “I’m closer to you, but I feel like I’m so far away ‘cause I let my fear get in front of my faith. I’m back and forth like a wave in the wind, but I hear your voice and it’s pulling me in.” 1

When you feel like the “waves of life” are pushing you around, grab on to God’s fishing line and let him pull you in closer to him. Listen to his voice in his written words. He urges us again and again to “Fear not!”2 He wants us to take courage—not because we are strong, or that we have all the answers, but because He is strong and he’s got the whole world in his hands. Seek him, and don’t let your fear get in front of your faith!

Romans 10:17 “...Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.“

1Walk on Water by Family Force 5 2Luke 1:30, 2:10

Don’t be AfraidFear is an emotion we’ve all been familiar with since childhood. Regardless of our age, many of us are, at times, fearful. The creators of Veggie Tales wrote a song that rings with truth and makes us smile. “God is bigger than the Boogie Man, bigger than Godzilla and the monsters on TV. God is bigger...and he’s watching over you and me.” He is watching over us! He tells us that he watches us so intently that even the hairs on our heads are numbered by him. After assuring us that he is closely watching, he tells us: “Don’t be afraid!”1

Easier said than done, isn’t it? An intimate friend of Jesus wrote; “Perfect love casts out fear.”2 The more you grow in your understanding of Jesus’ perfect love for you the more fears will fade into faith. Beth Moore, who admits struggling with fear wrote: “Every single day Jesus pursues you. Every single day Jesus fights valiantly for you. Every single day He gazes on your face....”3 You are outrageously loved! If you have trouble feeling loved by God simply ask him to show you his love. That prayer will delight him. The miracle-working Jesus loves you and wants you to experience faith, not fear!4

1Lk 12:7 2I John 4:18 3Beth Moore, “Audacious”, p. 1624Ephesians 3:17-19

Step Out of the Boat—

overcome the impossible!Jesus’ friend Peter wanted to believe. He had faith and he did step out of the boat in that faith and started to walk on the water—and guess what, the waters were not calm at the time. He did it—he actually began to walk on the water. The story is recorded.1 But then he saw the wind; he got distracted and doubt crept in. He began to sink—and Jesus rescued him!

Doubt---it is another enemy of faith. When the winds of doubt try to blow you over and make you sink-- cling to this truth—nothing is impossible with God!2 “It takes a little time to see. It takes a little time to believe, but we can rise above the typical and be anything but usual—we know that there’s no such thing as impossible. Nothing is unreachable when we trust the God of miracles—we know that there’s no such, no such thing—as impossible”3 This is a powerful message from an amazing song in the movie War Room. Sing along with it as you exercise with us and let it penetrate your heart and lift you out of doubt into faith!1Matthew 14:25-32 2Mark 9:23-24 3Impossible by Building 429

Strength to Face HardshipsMost of us have heard a family member or friend say; “I can’t do this anymore! I’m done!” Maybe you have uttered those words as you collapsed into bed. Even today you may feel that carrying on in your current circumstance is impossible. You may feel exhausted, overwhelmed and defeated. So what are you to do at times like these? You must remind yourself that your ability to handle life’s hardships is not about your strength, but it really is all about God’s strength! He freely gives his limitless, timeless strength to those who admit their need and humbly ask.1

The apostle Paul experienced overwhelming hardship. He explained: “we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”2 From personal experience he wrote: “For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.”3 Incredibly encouraging words, aren’t they? You too can do everything, including what may seem impossible, with the help of Christ who will give you all the strength you need. He is your ever-present help in trouble.4 “Maybe we need to quit letting our circumstances get between us and God and let God get between us and our circumstances.”5

1II Cor 12:9 2II Cor. 4:8, 9 3Phil. 4:13 NLT 4Ps. 46:1 5Mark Batterson, “Draw the Circle” pg. 85

Trust Deeper and don’t be a “backseat driver”TobyMac’s new CD includes some amazing songs. One of them is “Backseat Driver” where he and his crew proclaim some great nuggets of truth: “I don’t want to be a backseat driver. You got the wheel, take me where You wanna go. My heart is Yours, no matter where we roll…I’m putting my trust in You. It’s a little bit overdue, but I’m putting my trust in You…It’s a whole new journey, a brand new path and Imma fix my eyes, so I won’t look back.”

We are all tempted to be backseat drivers—both in the car and in life in general. We like to be in control. We think we know best until…you name it. There comes a time when we realize that we need and want God to take the wheel and give us a brand new start. Sometimes our trust is “a little bit overdue” but God takes us as we are, whenever we make the decision to trust him and let him take control. If you haven’t done that yet, it’s not too late. Get ready to enjoy the beauty as you sit in the backseat. You are in good hands!

Isaiah 25:9 “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

Trust Every day Every day we trust. In the morning when we take our first sip of steaming hot coffee we trust that the beans are safe. When we jump in the car and merge into traffic we trust the other drivers. Do we trust because ultimately we are trusting God, or is it that we have observed that coffee usually is safe and so are other drivers? If you’re motivated to devise a plan for deepening your trust in God, it will have to include getting to know him by spending time reading the love letter he inspired, the Bible. When we delight in his words, and meditate on them day and night, we become like a tree planted in a place where its roots can go deep.1

Anyone who has ever seen a giant sequoia tree is awe-inspired. “These magnificent creations can measure more than twenty feet wide and three hundred feet tall…the resistance to disease, insect damage, and fire make them almost indestructible.”2 You want to be indestructible, don’t you? “Now here is the amazing thing; the giant sequoia was once a seed. And that seed is no bigger than the seed that produces a watermelon.”2 Don’t get hung up on the current size of your trust. It will surely grow as you spend time getting to know the God who is always trustworthy.

Ps. 40:4 “Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust...” *also see Psalm 9:10

1Psalm 1 2Mark Batterson, “Draw the Circle”

God RescuesIf we spend much time watching TV or even just watching people, our perspectives of what we want and need can be twisted by images and marketing that draw us in wrong directions. It sets us on a search for wrong things—and then we need to be rescued from it—really rescued! But the good news is that there is something better! The Newsboys say it this way: “If you surrender you will live. Just gotta taste and see it’s good. It’s gonna save your life. I can see that you want this and you know that you need this. Get away from the darkness!”1

We cannot rescue ourselves. A comic book superhero won’t do it either. It takes a true life superhero, Jesus, who made a real life sacrifice—he gave his life for ours. He died in our place. He is the one who rescues us from darkness and opens the way to heaven. He brings us into the light. Truly once we taste new life with him we can see that it is good!

Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”1Save Your Life by the Newsboys

The RescuerBeloved author, Max Lucado wrote: “Deep within we’ve known (haven’t we known?) something is awry— we feel disconnected. What we hope will bring life brings limited amounts.... We connect with a career, find meaning in family, yet long for something more.“1 We long for perfection in ourselves and others, but we always fall short. We know we should forgive, but bitterness has a way of sticking to us like crazy glue. We work hard to control people and things; mistakenly believing that’s the answer. We need a rescuer we can trust. “And don’t we need someone to trust who is bigger than we are? Aren’t we weary of trusting the things of this earth...?“2

God sent his Son to be our rescuer. Envision the moment. God on his throne. You on the earth. And between you and God, suspended between you and heaven, is Christ on his cross. ...you are safe— safe in the shadow of the cross.”2 You don’t have to look back over your life and say, ‘If only I could make up for those bad choices.” Jesus has rescued you from that responsibility. All you have to do is trust in what he did 2,000 years ago on the cross.

Galatians 1:4 “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us...according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever.”

1Max Lucado, “3:16” 2Max Lucado, “He Chose The Nails”

Are you searching, longing for answers, knowing you need to be rescued?

You are looking in the right place. There is good news! God is searching for you, wanting to answer your questions, ready to rescue you from your past bad decisions, and your current temptations. Again and again God says “Fear not!” He is trustworthy. He invites you to take the step of faith and trust him.

God is a very real “life preserver.” He can save your life if you reach out by faith and grab hold. He loves you and he has a plan for your life. He wants to fill your life with meaning and give you the gift of eternal life. God offers you grace and mercy— he gives you the opportunity for a second chance— a brand new start, and true freedom, but you have to be brave and make a decision.

Take a step of faith to ask God to take control of your life and allow him to guide you to a new life of true freedom.

Admit your faults and mistakes— things that have wrapped chains around your heart and kept you from being free.

Accept God’s grace and forgiveness. He offers this grace to you in a supernatural way. He does not ask you to earn it. He knows you don’t deserve it; he offers it as a free gift.

You can be assured of this supernatural grace if you put your faith in God and allow him to take control of your life. He loves you so much that he sent his son to earth to cover your mistakes and open the door to everlasting life. God’s son Jesus bridges the gap between you and God. Choose, by faith, to believe that Jesus is the only way to ensure your eternal life of true freedom in heaven. Once you have made this decision, your new life will start and you will begin to experience the faithfulness of God, even in hard times.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith— and it is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works so that no one can boast.

Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

The following is a suggested prayer:

Dear God, I have been searching for you and I want you to rescue me. I am taking the step of faith to believe in you. I open the door of my heart and accept you as my Lord. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me life that is everlasting. Take control of my life. Make me the person you want me to be. Thank you for your grace and your love.

@WeRBodySoulFit

/havingfuninbodyandsoulfitness

@WeRBodySoulFit

Devotionals written by: Jeannie Blocher & Anne WalchshauserArt design by: Rebecca Gilbert - JoyArtandDesign.com

301-258-1018 - 888-660-SOUL www.bodyandsoul.org