Here has been my approach to working out at home for the last several weeks. My current setup is that I have a few bands, 10,20, and 30lbs dumbbells, and a barbell with about 205lbs in weights. 

Since I don't have as much equipment I am training more often by training 6 days per week and doing the following...

1. The Daily Mobility Routine and I have been experimenting with adding short pulses into each stretch for increased circulation.
2. Bodyweight exercises: 2-3 rounds of squats, pushups and sit-ups usually 20-30 reps each round.
3. Barbell lifts - Since I don't have a rack I have switched to doing mostly clean and press for sets of 3 reps, which I think is one of the best lifts for overall strength. I don't go anywhere near failure since I am doing it almost every day.
4. DB/Band Work: Then I follow the 4 phase workout plan in the Abundant Life Blueprint for varying the reps each phase. Currently I am on phase 3 alternating between 6 slow reps one day and 20 reps the next....

In 2 Chronicles 20 God's people are being attacked and they cry out to him for help. The following answer comes from God... Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf. 

We have been transferred out of the darkness and seated in heavenly places with Christ. Now we must maintain our position. 

I think the way we maintain our position is to stay grateful that God is continually working for our good, even when the pressure is on. In times of pressure we must hold our heavenly position.

On God's calendar we are starting week 6 of a 7 week sprint to the day of Pentecost( May 29th). Week 6 is a time when there may be some increased pressure. If the pressure comes stay grateful and hold your position. 

The other day I was helping my daughter learn to roller skate. About an hour before this I had been praying and asking God about a few area of life where I was not seeing much progress. I was working at them but not seeing much results. 

Then through teaching my daughter to roller skate I received the answer I was looking for. 

When she first started on the skates every attempt to move forward would actually make her go backwards. She would try to skate but panic because she didn't want to fall, and when her wheels would contact the ground they were spinning backwards. She was putting out a lot of effort but the skates were going the wrong way. 

She kept working at it and figured out how to make the skates go forward but she would do so by keeping her skates on the ground the whole time. She would sort of shuffle them. This would move her forward but at a very slow pace, and it was a lot of effort. When she was in this stage she kept asking if she was getting it, and...

In the spring it's time for seeds to grow. One of the themes of the parables of Jesus is that our hearts are like soil. God has promised to roll away our hearts of stone and give us new hearts. Then he planted his seed in our hearts. Our rocky soil turned into good soil that can grow the seed and produce a harvest, but we do have a role to play in taking care of the soil by keeping an eye on our thoughts and what we visualize in our minds. Negative thoughts and images are like weeds that need to be pulled. 

This seed is planted in our hearts but it produces fruit through our lips. 

• Proverbs 12:14 From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things.
• Proverbs 18:20-21 From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled, with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. 
• Proverbs 13:2 From the fruit of their lips people enjoy good things. 
• Hebrews 13:15...

God planted a seed in our hearts and the imagination is where we create the environment that grows the seed and produces fruit in our lives. 

The imagination is the key to our maturation. 

A great practice is to be on the lookout for any images in our minds that attempt to steal our peace and/or joy. We can develop the habit of casting these down and meditating on something else. 

Something I have found helpful if imaginations start stirring is to take communion. I imagine God pouring his wrath on the body of Jesus so that we have the cup of his blessing. I begin to stir this image in my mind instead and it has a powerful effect on reprogramming the emotions. 

Jesus said that if we abide in him we will produce much fruit, and it will last. 

The other day I was reading in 1 Chronicles 23 about how David set up God's temple. He had the Levites. who were the workers in the temple standing thanking and praising God every morning and evening, on the Sabbaths( weekly), on the New Moons( the start of the month), and on the feast days(the yearly holidays).

This short passage combines two very powerful principles... gratitude and rhythm.

Gratitude is one of the greatest expressions of faith, and one of the things God wants most from us. 

The temple in the Old Testament had a rhythm of morning and evening, weekly, monthly, and the yearly cycle. 

Our bodies are the temple now, and we can stand thanking and praising him on this rhythm. 

When these two principles are combined it is very powerful. 

In the Old Testament Passover was so important that God gave the people a second chance to celebrate it a month later, just in case they missed it. Today it has been a month since Passover, which was the night Jesus instituted communion. If you haven't taken communion in a while it would be good to do so. 

Here is the training from my book 7 Dates with Jesus on Passover.
Click Here for the Video ( 38 Minutes)
Click Here for the Audio

Here is a summary of Passover

Passover is a reminder that Jesus has set us free and translated us out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light.

The traditional Passover meal includes...

• Lamb - Jesus is the lamb of God and our Passover lamb
• Unleavened Bread - to remember they left Egypt in haste and God wants to bring us out quickly
• 4 Cups of Wine - to remember the blood of the Lamb that protects and sets free
• Bitter vegetables - to remember the bitterness of slavery - we were all slaves to sin but Jesus set us free.

The word...

Years ago I came across the story of a college track coach who would do an interesting experiment with his sprinters every year. At the start of the year he would tell them that they were going to run and that their times would rank them on the team.

All of the sprinters would take off and run as fast as they could, and their times were recorded. Then he would tell them to run a cool down sprint, and to focus on running relaxed and smooth. They would all run again and beat their first time. 

Then he would have them run again and focus on being even more relaxed and they would all beat their times again. 

It is counterintuitive but our bodies always perform better when they are relaxed. 

When we are mentally relaxed answers come faster and our productivity increases. 

Basketball coach John Wooden used to always tell his players to be quick but don't hurry. 

When we rest God works. 

It is important to make our meals look good, taste good, and smell good. One of the best ways to avoid boredom with nutrition and to make meals more exciting is to use a variety of herbs, spices, and sauces. 

There have been studies done where people were dropped in the middle of nowhere and asked to navigate their way out. If the people lacked a reference point then they tended to walk in circles because they make biased decisions favoring one side. They think they are walking straight, but they keep making small biased adjustments that cause them to walk in circles. To keep our lives from spinning in circles we need a true north, which is meant to be God’s standard. 

God's standards are meant to be the things above that we set our minds upon to help us navigate our lives. 

Down Below is the May 2020 Letter: The Things Above
Click Here for the Audio
Click Here for the PDF