Friday, August 22, 2014

Day 39: "Balancing Your Life"

Today we move on to day 39 in the book: The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For? by Pastor Rick Warren. Today we discuss ways to KEEP balance in our lives.

If you have been reading the chapters you'll have a VERY clear picture that we have a pretty clear cut mission. How we get there & how we do it will vary GREATLY for each person, because we are SO unIQue, but our ultimate goals/purpose/mission are the same: "God wants us to introduce people to Christ, bring them into his fellowship, help them grow to maturity and discover their place of service, and then send them out to reach others, too." As you've probably learned by reading the last 39 chapters....it won't be DONE in 42 days (once you complete this book). What I have found as I've experienced this book & what it teaches is that you really have to work on yourself in some areas, before you can REALLY help.....BUT...once you start doing the work...God will PRESENT people into your life. They will come & almost ASK for you to minister to them. Then...you'll notice yourself LOOKING for ways to minister to people....& before you know it...you'll be ministering to AT LEAST one person a day. Keep in mind....this is my SECOND time around reading this book & my EXPERIENCE the second time around is so much RICHER, but...I've done some of the work that the book HELPED me realize needed to be done.

This chapter talks A LOT, A LOT about SHARING your spiritual journey & the lessons you've learned & writing them down. I am BLESSED in this area because I LOVE to journal & now I LOVE to blog. It has taken me THREE years for me to get to a point where I can be as open & honest as I am in these blogs. When I first started my BUCK UP BABY! blog, I was SO concerned about what people were going to think about me. I can honestly say that one of the things I've learned about myself is that yes....like everyone else...I want people to LIKE me....but somewhere in my thought process (I'm not sure what gets me to that point) I just ABANDON the concern & worry about it...& then usually worry about it later. I can tell you...that when I felt CALLED to do this....I was having a moment about sharing my journal entries. That's probably why it took me so long to start after reading the book the first time. I'm writing about this because I take for granted the fact that I LIKE to write stuff down. Not everyone does & not everyone even wants to. Here is what I can tell you from EXPERIENCE. The lessons I have learned & all that I am currently going through are REINFORCED by me putting it down on paper or typing it out. I mean I can SEE my growth...even from when I just started these posts. I have an advertising background & BELIEVE that people have to see & hear things a certain number of times to REALLY get the message, & I'm pretty sure God uses that same principal with us.

I have a friend that used to journal...probably like I do....just had books and books of journals. She told me that much of what she writes was the NEGATIVE stuff that she really doesn't EVER want anyone to find, so she burned most of them. This book says: "Don't just write down the pleasant things. As David did, record your doubts, fears, and struggles with God." For me....its therapeutic to get it out of me & onto paper. MOST times it shows me a whole different perspective on things, that I couldn't SEE when I was so upset about it. It's one of those things though....you HAVE to break FREE of caring about others' perception of you. Once you do that (or begin to do that) you won't really care who reads them. Here's another thing I learned....just recently. I was VERY similar to my friend in that...I mostly wrote down the BAD stuff. I've been asking God to infuse MORE JOY into my life....I could remember how I once was & started noticing how SO much of it has drained out of me & I started writing "JOY Journal" entries. Ultimately...you give 3 pieces of gratitude: J- A reason you are thankful for JESUS. O- OTHERS...you name a specific person you are thankful for & you state WHY. Y- YOURSELF...what about yourself are you thankful for? Slowly, but surely that JOY is comin' right back to me.

Here's what I'm sorta gettin' at... Right now I have anywhere between 18-40 REGULAR readers of these blog postings (It varies on my consistency) & although that may not seem like a lot...its that many MORE people reading MY experiences to HELP them DEVELOP  A RELATIONSHIP with The Holy Trinity....& I can ALWAYS go back to it & read it. People who just get the book can refer to these posts to help them on their journey....FOREVER. It doesn't hurt :). I'm not saying you have to share it with the world, but write it down, so you feel more comfortable SHARING it with others...through conversation or a short email.

Here's some take-aways from this chapter I'll SHARE with you:

"But you can keep your life balanced and on track by joining a small group for accountability, by regularly evaluating your spiritual health, by recording your progress in a personal journal, and by passing on what you learn to others."

"The Bible says, 'As iron sharpens iron, so people can improve each other.'"

"I strongly urge you to gather a small group of friends and form a Purpose Driven Life Reading Group to review these chapters on a weekly basis." - I'M DOWN FOR THIS IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED.

"The Bible is intended to be studied by paragraphs, chapters, and even entire books."

"The best way to balance the five purposes in your life is to evaluate yourself periodically."

"The Bible says, 'Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don't drift along taking everything for granted."

"Problems force you to focus on God, draw you closer to others in fellowship, build Christlike character, provide you with a ministry, and give you a testimony."

"You owe it to future generations to preserve the testimony of how God helped you fulfill his purposes on earth. It is a witness that will continue to speak long after you're in heaven."

"Proverbs tells us, 'The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.'"

"In this book I have passed on to you what others taught me about the purpose of life; now it's your duty to pass that on to others."

"The more you know, the more God expects you to use that knowledge to help others."

"Knowledge increases responsibility."

The Daily Stuff:

"Point to Ponder: Blessed are the balanced."

Daily Bible Verse: "Life life with a due sense of responsibility, not as those who do not know the meaning of life but as those who do." Ephesians 5:15 (PH)

Daily Question: "Which of the four activities will I begin in order to stay on track and balance God's five purposes for my life?"

From My Journal: 1) Give myself a spiritual checkup and email the author for a guideline to check myself. 2) Start thinking about the group I'd like to organize. It seems like I can't help, but pass it on to others and I do journal...about EVERYTHING.

I have not emailed the author yet, but I have started the organization of several groups...not necessarily a SPECIFIC group of study partners for this book. These blog posts started out with people commenting & sharing, but now people are MAINLY just reading it, which is fine too. It's HARD to talk about some of these topics.

Buck Up Baby & Ride With Jesus! Record that journey! Put it to paper! God Bless!!

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