Saturday, June 15, 2019

On Developing The Inner Man

I spend a great deal of time developing the outer man, and very little time developing the inner man.

On a good week, I have 3 hours of work outs, 2 hours of Iai class, 3 hours of Iai training/practice, and 3 hours or so of aerobic - 11 hours a week.  At the same time, I maybe have 1 hour total of prayer, thinking, and reading the Scriptures.

It is not surprising at all, as I look at that, that the inner man is so greatly confused and impotent.

I need to change it.

How?  It is going to require time:  time spent in prayer, Scripture reading, meditation, thought, and writing.  It means that time will have to pulled from somewhere else for sure.  But it is an investment that I have to make.

How does one go about creating a personal development plan for internal development and character?

I have a plan (I think):

First, one needs to make a commitment.
Second, one needs to decide what it is that one wants or needs to develop.
Third, one needs to define the tools one needs to accomplish this:  books, facilities, classes, etc.
Fourth, one needs to define a specific time for this to occur.
Fifth, one must do it.

8 comments:

  1. Your inner man has strong commitment, I think, given all that you do for your outer man weekly.

    Prayer can occur anywhere, at any time. I
    w
    watching the 700 Club a couple days ago. They had a bit about an Olympic skier. As long as he remembered his skill, and his competition were for the glory of God, he won. Every time. When it became about himself, he lost. He went through a long period of losing, and other challenges. After talking with God, God reminded him that he was skiing for Him.
    And the next time out, he reminded himself he was skiing for God's glory, and he won.

    Not sure how this relates, but good luck and God bless. ❤️🙏

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  2. The outer man, O Mighty Warrior Poet - is merely the other side of the inner man. Anything you do to one will impact on the other. You seem to seek that which you already have: focus, determination and thoughtfulness. My scholarly opinion is that you probably need a cigar, a dram of fine whisky and a campfire - all taken in the middle of nowhere. :)

    My wife put the bible on my cell. Now I can sit down during an archery session and read snippets between ends, pay homage to my Maker AND contemplate and focus the mind in rapid succession. It's actually refreshing. Have a great Saturday TB. Do something fun today.

    Cheers!

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  3. Thank you Linda. The story actually is very relevant. It is a question that I continue to ask myself: am I doing what I do for God, or for myself? I do not know that my wins or losses are that visible - but I had never thought of it that way before either. Thank you for sharing.

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  4. Thank you Glen. Would it seem odd to you that I haver never thought of that before? Perhaps it is because the bulk of my day is spent in ways that do not seem to engage that sort of thought process.

    It is soon coming time for my annual cigar. I have have some reasonable whiskey to go with it.

    That is a great idea, putting the Bible on the cell phone. Even better that you are using it!

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  5. story, said to be true--man evangelizing spent 2 hours per day praying and 10 or 12 evangelizing not much response he thought it over and began the opposite long hours of earnest prayer and few hours evangelizing conversions went up incredibly

    ust paul says pray without ceasing nd it is possible although i am a slacker pray during the day between tasks and while doing purely physical tasks.
    saying 'praise be to God' and 'Lord have mercy on me,a sinner' is short prayer and calling God to be present as God is present in His praises

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  6. Thanks Deb. There is a story about Abraham Lincoln in which he said, given a period of time to cut down a tree, he would spend 90% of his time first sharpening his axe and then very little cutting it.

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  7. I agree with Deb. I try to say small prayers and give thanks all day long.
    Even when I fell last Saturday, I thanked God because there were nice people there to help me up, and I didn't break anything. Praise God, indeed. :)

    I like Glen's idea of the Bible on the cell phone. I have a book on my phone that I have read a couple times now, that I really enjoy. Unbridled Faith by Cara Whitney. She is actually Larry the Cable Guy's wife and he writes a very interesting introduction for the book. I would recommend it.

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  8. Actually Linda, this is what Brother Lawrence of the Ressurection - a 17th century monk - talks about in his book The Practice of the Presence of God: basically carrying on a prayer conversation with God throughout the day, not just during the times of need.

    I struggle with phone books, although I should carry a regular one more than I do. And thank you for the recommendation!

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