Love is Greater Than Fear Mini-Challenge – Christian Fitness

Love is Greater Than Fear Mini-Challenge – Christian Fitness

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Love>Fear Faith Based Fitness Mini-Challenge

Why this challenge?

It is impossible for us to live a fear-free life. You are going to feel fear. Fear is something God can use for great faith and increase. God tells us repeatedly in the Scriptures, “don’t be afraid.” Don’t be afraid. Being afraid is the key. We may feel fear, but we don’t have to embody fear. 

Where does fear continue to show up in your life? 

In this 7-Day Christian Fitness Mini-Challenge, we challenge you to partner with God to find victory over one of your fears. Each day of the challenge, you’ll read a devotional, journal in response to questions, and move your body in an encouraging workout. 

Are you ready to fight fear with love? Join us!

Table of Contents

It’s time to get our hearts, minds, souls, and strength in alignment with the power of God’s love that will overcome any fear and make us fit as ambassadors of God’s love in a fear-filled world.

Day 1 - What's the problem with fear?

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Romans 8:14-15

We cannot wait to link arms with you as we all take a stand against fear in this Love is Greater Than Fear Mini-Challenge. 

For many of you, fear is spiritual heart disease. In fact, I believe it is one of the greatest silent killers of our souls. It’s hard for a grown adult to admit having fear, and it’s a hard symptom to put our finger on because fear goes way back to the crack in our humanity. 

Fear has been our misery companion from the moment an apple core and our freedom to enjoy the privileges of being God’s kids were left behind in the garden. That moment of forsaken goodness on our lips shut the door to the privilege of being children of God. Instead of the spirit of certainty, safety, and belonging in our hearts, we became filled with an orphan spirit, the spirit of slavery that chains us to fear.

Still in His mercy, God didn’t forsake us. Thus, the Gospel saga unfolded. God quickly positioned himself on the other side of that orphan door and began knocking, waiting for us to open the door to faith, to a loving Father who knew what was best for us then and still does now.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the reason you abuse your body with food and/or exercise (by either over-indulging or highly restricting) is that you have fear. You are afraid of being alone. Afraid of not being chosen. Afraid of not being enough. Afraid of being too much. Afraid of succeeding. Afraid you don’t belong. Afraid of getting older. Afraid of being…dare I say…FAT!

Hey…guess what…we are all fat. If you are living, breathing, and have the ability to read and comprehend this message right now, it’s because you have fat. You couldn’t live without it. So thank God for your fat! Go ahead…I’ll wait…thank Him.

Some of you are saying right now, “Well, Alisa, too much fat, and we are unhealthy.” Yes. I agree. So the goal is balance. SOUL balance. Peace. Shalom. 

The goal is to be led by the Spirit, to return back to the garden where we last left our peace. The Spirit of God will always lead us to our Father, who says, “You are my daughter (my son) with whom I am well pleased.” The goal for soul balance is to take the fire hose of the Father’s love and wash ourselves clean of fear.

We are no longer orphans who live in fear, wondering if anyone is going to show up and choose us. If anyone is going to take care of us and show us how life really works. We no longer have to wonder who’s going to show us how to ride a bike and bandage up the blood when we fall off. Our Father is here! LOVE has come and rescued us.

Love already won. The game is over. The fitness, weight-loss, health-gain game is over.

So this week, I invite and challenge you to go all in for the LOVE>FEAR 7-Day Faith and Fitness Challenge. Find out for yourself how the Father’s love really is greater than any fear we former orphans can have. It’s time to get our hearts, minds, souls, and strength in alignment with the power of God’s love that will overcome any fear and make us fit as ambassadors of God’s love in a fear-filled world.

Identifying and Overcoming Fear

1. How do you identify fear? Where do you feel fear? 

2. Make a list of what you fear. 

3. Take time to think about one of those fears with God. Even better, write about it. 

4. Ask God to help you move toward peace.

Workout

Demetria’s Cardio Strength “Fighting Fear”

Day 2 - Trying to Get What God Wants to Give Us

I want to live a love is greater than fear life. This pushes me into very uncomfortable soul positions because I want God to expose the root of my fears. 

As we discussed yesterday, our fears are not just a neutral, insignificant aspect of life. Our fears have spiritual significance. My fears lead me to live in bondage/slavery to the law (if I do this, then God will do that) rather than receiving the gift of grace, unmerited favor, and love from God, the Creator of ALL things. This is opposite to the exchange of trust and peace that God promises us as His children. 

Look at Psalm 50 with me. The Psalm leads off by reminding the listener about God’s authority and His right to rule and reign. You can sense the Psalmist trying to convey God’s royal preeminence.

“The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets. From Zion, perfect in beauty God shines forth. Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people. “Psalm 50:1-4

By verse 8, the focus of the Psalm shifts.  God gets after the heart of his people, asking his people what they think they can give God that he doesn’t already own.

“I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.”

As I read these verses, this question rises up from inside of me, “Alisa…Why do you try to get what I want to give you?”

Ugh. Conviction. Sweet conviction.

Because good friends share good things, I ask you the same question:

What are you trying to get that God wants to give you?

Allow me to suggest some things:

A fit body? To which I say, “Does your body belong to the Lord or to you?” If it’s yours, then you will build it, and you will need to maintain it, and no matter how hard you try… it will break down, and so will you. BUT GOD wants to GIVE you a body that spends itself on behalf of the things that are imperishable and eternal…love, hope, and faith. A body that is FIT for its mission to MOVE love. And friends….love is always heavy.

A call, career, or profession? I say, “Don’t forget who gave you the skills, abilities, and passions to make a difference in the lives of others…to be the hero or heroine.” God wants to give you a passion/purpose that doesn’t chain you to the work but opens you up to be a free agent of change.

Security (physical, financial, or emotional)? To which I will remind you, “Nothing is guaranteed in life. Absolutely nothing.” The only secure, unchanging, unmoveable, and unshakeable force that holds life together and all living creatures breathing under the sun is God, the creator of ALL things. Security is found in Him alone. A bottle of booze, a sleeve of Oreo cookies, or the physical ability to complete an Ironman only can pacify our insecurities.
God wants to give you himself.

1. What are you trying to get that God wants to give you?

Workout

Alisa’s Restorative Flow “Rest and Remember”

Day 3 - The Test of Fear

Years ago, my family and I went on a vacation to Disneyland. During our time in the happiest place on earth, my computer crashed, my iPad screen cracked, a rock the size of a melon hit our windshield on the drive home, shattering the windshield (by God’s grace, no one was hurt), and my favorite sunglasses were lost to boot.

At one point, I looked at my husband and said in annoyance, with good cheer (yes..that’s possible), “Man, this trip just keeps on giving…and taking.”

At any given moment, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. One thing is for sure. I was living. I felt the frailty of my humanity that puts value in attaining things or achievements WHILE fully fighting to keep my faith in God. 

I begged him to quickly rid me of the sin that was so easily entangling me in possessions so that I could run the race set before me that day. The race to sit next to my family on Pirates of the Caribbean and enjoy their presence, their smiles, and their joy.

It was a test. It created tension. And I passed.

This is necessary so that your faith may be found genuine. (Your faith is more valuable than gold, which will be destroyed even though it is itself tested by fire.) Your genuine faith will result in praise, glory, and honor for you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1 Peter 1:7

So what’s your tension? 

From the day you chose to believe in Christ, you have been under some sort of tension. Oh, to become comfortable with tension. Oh, to know that without it, we aren’t living the full life. 

Without the tests that cause tension and some sort of suffering, God isn’t going to be able to get after the very things that are still in us that keep us sick. 

Jesus never said the fullness of life means we will have no pain or discomfort. Fullness of life means we experience it all to the full! The good in our life rolls up into God’s glory and a good name for Him. For His glory, honor, and praise! Then, He purges us of the yuck inside us so He can heal us and sets us free! It’s all a win-win!

We are all sinners saved by Grace. We are all sick and being made whole. We are all overweight with the cares of this world being invited into the weight loss of chasing after Christ’s love for us, found in the Gospel story.

Tests bring tension. Tension brings suffering. Suffering brings to the surface what’s going on deep down inside that is attached to the things we love or fear more than God. The goal of all of this is to prove our faith is genuine. To prove that we really are children who love God not for what He gives us but for who He is.

I love Him.

I have Him.

I have love.

I have my family (whether in blood or in faith. And most of my faith family is closer to me than my actual blood family.)

I can give love.

That has to be enough.

Period.

Test passed.

A++++++++

1. Where is there a source of tension in your life?

2. What will it mean for you to press into the love of God rather than run in fear?

Workout

Ron McDonald Jr’s Body Weight Strength “Wholeness”

Day 4 - No Turning Back From God's Love

Many years ago, in the early years of this ministry, I almost gave up on God. I almost gave up on my dream. The persecution and rejection from people who were supposed to love me was almost more than I could bear. I cried…a lot. 

On one particular day, I was drawn into a day of fasting (which I had never really done before) and desperately praying. I told God I needed to hear from Him. I NEEDED to know if I was supposed to stop the dream because I was beginning to think I was not in His will since everything felt so, so hard and so, so bad. He spoke. Loud and clear. These words jumped off His pages:

“My righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back. But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” – Hebrews 10:38-39

That was it! The gavel dropped. The verdict was in. I was convicted. There was no way I was supposed to stop, and there was no going back. Nothing is/was worth making His face fall. He mustered up in me more strength to hold on.

Shortly after that, things began to shift and change. The people who were supposed to leave my life left. And the others who were supposed to stay….He changed their hearts. And now they love God too!

God is faithful to be our vindicator and our redeemer.

And the dream for Revelation Wellness, Christian fitness that kicks spiritual and physical poverty in the teeth all around the world, continues to grow!

Can I get a witness? I only NEED one!

Is your dream on the line? Train these questions to find out:

  • What’s causing you to shrink back?
  • Are you willing to lose in order to gain?
  • Is your faith leading the way or falling behind?

 

Prayer: 

Father…God…I trust you. Forgive me for shrinking back. Forgive me for forgetting how big you are compared to my fears. This spirit of fear, confusion, and deception does not come from you. 

Right now, I am turning back towards your love for me, and I receive your gift of faith. Fear, in the name of Jesus, I command you to leave my mind, my life, and my home. Any places you have made yourself comfortable in my life, you are to leave, in the name of Jesus. I am a chosen child of God. Everything that belonged to Christ belongs to me. I am an heir of the Kingdom of God.

Well done, faithful one.

Answer the following questions regarding a God-dream you have:

1. What’s causing you to shrink back?

2. Are you willing to lose in order to gain?

3. Is your faith leading the way or falling behind?

Workout

Michele’s Power Rev On the Mat “Dream”

Day 5 - Overcoming the Comparison Scheme

I read a quote the other day that said, “Comparison is a violent act against oneself.”

Dang. Truth. Ouch.

Here’s the deal. If you are a woman or man with air in your lungs, you have suffered from this debilitating disease called comparison. It’s gross. It’s heavy and ill-fitting. It lurks around nearly every corner for every person alive. It is one of the reasons Jesus told us to armor up, for it is one of the enemy’s greatest schemes.

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Ephesians 6:11

As a young girl, I can remember looking at tall, blonde hair, blue-eyed all-American kind of girls and thinking to myself, “I’m screwed.” My 5 ft 1 inch (on a good day) athletic-bodied and ethnic-featured self didn’t stand a chance. I wasted some of my younger years trying to become someone I could never be. 

Eventually, my rebellious nature kicked in, and I chose to fight back against the status quo. I began a radical embrace of who I was on the outside, not even realizing there was an inside to deal with. 

Right about this time, I leaned into making my body into the shrine I knew it could be by entering body-building competitions. I trained and competed against 10-12 other women just to have a chance at “winning” the comparison game.

Fast forward a few years, and Jesus came crashing into the door of my heart and set me free. He is really good at getting in the way of people making plans that revolve around themselves.

After all these years, do you know what I’ve learned?

Comparison is completely fear-based. It’s based on the fear that God will not provide for you like he is doing for someone else. It’s suffocating and wicked. Comparison gets no room to stand when you are standing on holy ground.

If you suffer from the disease of comparison, with eyes that look outward, physical fitness, training, restricting calories, and working out could easily become your escape route. 

If you struggle with comparing your gifts and talents to others, you will never embrace the amazing, one-of-a-kind gift you are in a world that is wanting and desperate. 

Don’t fall into either trap. You are standing on holy ground!

1. Do you compare yourself with others?

2. What is the fear behind your comparison?

3. What is the freedom that God is inviting you into?

Workout

Fran Patoskie’s “Love One Another”

Day 6 - Be a Promoter of People

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Philippians 2:5-7

“Made himself nothing”……Selah. (Pause and quietly think about that.)

Is this how you relate to others?

This verse falls on the heels of the “put no confidence in the flesh” verse in Philippians 2. Clearly, Paul has something to say about how easy it is for the lion of our flesh to become enraged and territorial over what is “ours” and what is “theirs.” 

It’s too easy to draw a box around our life, comprise a formula, and say, “This is how I love the people around me.” Paul doesn’t think this is how love works. He reminds us that we when we say we are in Christ, we put on his royal coat of humility and love others as He loved us. 

God keeps asking me, “Alisa, how low are you willing to go?” 

Some days it gets under my skin. My greatest desire is to see the ones who have been pushed furthest out to be pulled in by the love of Christ. So, God keeps asking me to walk the very rugged and treacherous road of serving. Even when I don’t really “feel” like it. It’s an honor to serve and love others. But my old, jacked-up, twisted, broken thoughts and ideas about serving/loving others keep getting in the way.

In becoming a servant, God is not asking me to lie down and let everybody walk over me. That is false humility. False humility is a set-up by the enemy of our hearts to throw us into the ditch of either shame and despair or pride and self-righteousness. 

True humility is big and strong and trains to carry the weight of others on its back. True humility is evident in God’s people by their thick skin and soft hearts.

Jesus could make himself nothing in relation to others because HE KNEW he already had everything! Inside of Him, He already had a treasure that could not get stolen, rotten, or eaten by moths. He and the Father are one. He doesn’t go anywhere without Him, so He is always complete/whole, no matter what threatens to tear Him apart from the love of The Father.

It has taken me years to truly KNOW this treasure is inside of me, and because of it…I, too, need nothing because I already have EVERYTHING!

I have great joy over what God has done. Allow me to list a few things I know he has delivered me from:

Divorce: And now my husband and I are more in love than ever. That’s Jesus!

Eating disorders and body image dysmorphia: And now I eat/drink to the glory of God and know I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Unworthiness: I know I am enough, forever and always…in Christ alone.

Approval of man: If God called me, no one could stop me, and if they are not against me, they are for me. Jesus himself was rejected. I’m in good company when I am.

Anger: I used to be scared and afraid, so anger was my weapon. And now, nothing is worth forfeiting my peace. If I lose it, I am quick to get that sucker back! Asap!

Emotional manipulation: I am no longer my emotions, and someone else does not have to pay for my emotions. I have the mind of Christ. My feelings and thoughts come under the authority of my faith in a Savior who is able to save.

An orphan spirit: I am His, and oh, how He loves me. His love makes me bold and sets me free.

Jesus has served me well! He continues to serve me each and every day as I humble myself before Him to do His will. The life I have been given in Christ is not a grave-tending life, it’s an adventurously expectant life where each day I get to say, “What’s next Papa?” (Romans 8-The Message)

I will not be restrained from considering myself nothing so others might know my Everything. I promote people so they might get closer to Christ.

If He didn’t give me another thing…it’s enough. And what God has given me (see the above bullet points in case you forgot) NOBODY can take away.

This is cause for my great, GREAT joy!

This kind of joy causes me to do things like this! Brace yourself….because, as David says, “I will become even more undignified than this.” 

1. What has God delivered you from?

2. What is the greatest treasure inside of you?

Workout

Savannah’s Drumsticks “A Chosen Treasure”

Day 7 - Don't Frustrate Grace

Welcome to the final day of the Love>Fear Christian Fitness Mini-Challenge! We pray that you have been able to tackle one of your fears with the love of God this week. We pray this is the beginning of your freedom journey! 

As you close out this mini-challenge, there is one more topic to cover in the discussion of love and fear. The sweet topic of grace. Your freedom journey is one of transformation into Christ-likeness. Grace is essential to your journey, never to be left behind or disregarded. 

Let’s dive in. 

In my search under the word grace, I accidentally fell into some sort of wormhole, in the vastness of the internet, and landed in a King James Version study of the bible. As I was scrolling along I saw a verse that said these four words “Do not frustrate grace.” Ugh. Like a shot to the heart and a clear moment in my head, I stopped searching and dove into this verse.

The full verse is from Galatians 2:21 where Paul writes to the church in Galatia because he was frustrated with them. It seems they were turning back to “old” ways of living. Rule living. Paul reminds them how horrible that old lifestyle was. He reminds them that something new has come, so live like new beings. He says “Do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness (come) by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”

We can all think about someone or some situation that frustrates us. Since life is more about relationships, there is often a person that picks away at the calm facade we like to present. 

Webster’s definition of frustrate is “to prevent from progressing.” 

Jesus is about transformation. It is why he came. Like the song amazing grace says, “I once was lost but now am found.” 

In the love of Jesus, we are transformed. We go from something old to something new. We must allow ourselves to be led toward transformation. 

We can so easily frustrate grace, can’t we? Can’t we prevent progress?

We do this whenever we think with our old hearts. When we think we are people who are owed something. Law-living people say, “Do this. Don’t do that.  You should have done this. You shouldn’t have done that. And if only you would do this THEN, I will love you.” 

We simply cease to progress when we think like law-living, fearful people. We frustrate grace.

God’s grace is always on the move. It is always flowing. It moves in one direction, and if I don’t hop on the moving bus of grace and keep my hands off the wheel, I will prevent progress from happening. I will cause a traffic jam in the heart. 

God’s grace, in the gift of His Son for my sins, sets me free. “You owe me nothing. I do it because I love you.” This is what Jesus says to us. It is my life quest to be able to do for others what Jesus did for me . And dare I say, even to be thankful for those who frustrate me.

I do not want to be frustrated anymore. I want to live a love is greater than fear life through God’s sweet gift of grace. What about you? 

1. Where are you trying to live according to the law instead of according to grace?

2. What can it look like to live according to grace in that area of your life?

Be Still and Be Loved

#374 Be Still & Be Loved: Overflowing Banks Of Kindness (Psalm 145:8)

Alisa is the founder of Revelation Wellness and the author of The Wellness Revelation. She was born for the battle of freedom! She is an ordinary woman who spends time with Jesus, and then He causes her to rise up and do extraordinary things like starting a ministry, writing, teaching, and speaking.

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2 Responses

  1. Love> Fear Mini-Challenge day 1
    Additional Teaching – Identifying and Overcoming Fear
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