Living at a Higher Level

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For the last several months I have been doing a new workout that takes about 20 minutes( more on this to come soon) and in this workout I do the same exact thing everyday. For many this might sound boring but it has actually been a lot of fun to see the consistent progress. And if you bring energy, presence, and focus each day it is not boring at all. In each section of the weight lifting I have a rep goal, for example it might be 4-8 reps. In this case I select a weight that allows me to do 4-8 reps with medium effort. 

My goal is to keep practicing that weight every single day until 8 reps can be done easily for multiple days in a row, then its time to increase the weight and start over again. After several months of doing this my weights have increased steadily and the other day I went back and tried some of the weights I started with. Those weights now felt very easy, because I had moved to a higher level.

When we move to a higher level in anything lower levels now feel easy. But higher levels come through consistent practice. Hebrews 5:14 says, "But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."

I think the key to moving to higher levels is consistent training and practice that is done with presence, focus, joy, and humility.  Humility is very important because new levels come as a gift of grace and God gives grace to the humble. And when we move to a higher level obstacles and challenges that used to be too much for us are now easy to handle. 

In today's communion we are thanking God that there is always another level with him. And we are asking for his help to learn to train and practice the right way so that his grace moves us to new levels. 

I am praying for you. 

Daniel