Today’s session was an abbreviated one since a lot of us still had work to do post-hurricane. The hurricane led me to a really great topic to talk about today, and in that respect it was a very fulfilling morning to be able to share that message. I hope that you enjoy it.

EXERCISE NOTES:

Leapfrog

The idea for this came about to address a need for us to have more purpose-specific exercises. This is a plyometric exercise that is characterized by an explosive movement.  Plyometric exercises are highly underrated and can add a key explosive power component that compliments and enhances both endurance work and muscle work. Its basically acting like a frog – you leap off the ground forcefully and go as far as you can each ‘leap’. Repeat. There are many variations of this exercise but this one is very simple and effective.

WOD:

Self-Centered View vs. All-Centered View

The storm interrupted my life. It put my plans, my life, everything I was working on, on hold. To be honest I felt really frustrated over this. My thoughts were, with so much going on that I’ve been working on, all the hard work I’ve been doing in my life why would something like this happen right in the middle of it? It sucks. I’ve literally been going 100MPH for almost two months and wham everything comes to a complete STOP.

That was a good reminder for me of something really important – My gifts from God may be in me but they are not about me. This isn’t my plan – its God’s plan. And God is way bigger than our present. He’s bigger than this hurricane, than this week, this month, eternity even.

God’s not equipping us for our needs, he’s equipping us for HIS.

In the bible there are many references to being part of tree, a living vine which is Jesus (John:15). We are called to be part of that vine and to bear fruit. That’s a common theme throughout the bible, and God is referred to as the pruner, and He prunes these vines to bear fruit.

Pruning is a vital process that brings about the best growth & the best yield.

God is the one with the shears, with the knife, and he is the only one who cuts to heal, to produce growth. That’s what pruning is. We are not the gardener here folks, God is.

When we talk about bearing fruit, which is the growth and fruition of God’s work in us through his ‘pruning’ – two things really stand out to me.

Number one – Fruit takes time to grow.

Number two – Ask yourself this, who is the fruit for? Is fruit for the tree? No, fruit is for others

That’s what I challenge you today to do – To think about how can we expand our view of God working in our lives. Can we start to view our purpose as part of a plan that’s much bigger than ourselves?

One where we bear fruit for others. And one that is a lot less about us than it is about the lives that we can touch.