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!!

Day 24: "Transformed By Truth"

Welcome back readers!! For new readers, we are taking a day by day journey through Pastor Rick Warren's book: The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For? I have read the book once & I LOVED it SO much that I'm reading it again & sharing my experiences & how I've begun to apply what this book teaches to my life.

This chapter discusses the IMPORTANCE of The Bible. I'd like to tell ya'll a story. I have a VERY dear friend that has studied, Studied, STUDIED the Bible & I really didn't know how STRONG of a BELIEVER she was, when we first became friends. I mean...I look to her as a TEACHER to me. I had asked her to help me at one of my auctions (NEVER worked at one before) & she just swooped in where she was NEEDED & did a great job. I'm an EXPERIENCE kinda gal & when I took the BIG step to go at the auction business FULL-TIME I saw God workin' in ways I had never seen before & havin' things revealed to me & saw how certain things were SO connected to each other. Whew! I can get on the phone and talk to her for HOURS & one day she asked me what kind of Bible I had...I told her. Well next thing you know she brought me a Catholic Bible that had four different versions of God's Word in it. I've said in a previous blog that I just had a HARD time falling into a way to REALLY read The Bible. The BEST thing that worked for me (and it wasn't workin' all that well) was to read it cover to cover & I wasn't half way through it yet.

Well...she gave me this Bible and it sat on my table for at least a week and a half. Finally, one day I went to it. I was gearin' myself up to have one of those HARD conversations & I needed MORE than what this book & my devotional could give me. I opened up the Bible & the heading in the text was about dealing with anger. It drew me in. Then over the next couple days I continued to do that (I know many people will tell you that is NOT the best way to read & understand The Bible.) I kept feeling myself DRAWN into it. Now I feel drawn to the book of Matthew & it will be the first WHOLE chapter I finish since I started reading it again. Just now as I was TRYING to find what book of the Bible I was in that talked about dealing with anger I was again...DRAWN to Hebrews Chapter 11, which talks about remembering the heroes of faith. I NEEDED to read that. I NEEDED to hear the multiple stories of God's disciples that walked out in NOTHING BUT FAITH...even when it didn't makes sense...AT ALL...to do it.

I re-read the chapter & had all kinds of bullet points on what would be a good idea to share with you, but I think I'll end this way. When you start walking out into faith, asking for a relationship with God, calling upon The Holy Spirit & having FAITH that help is coming...you will see changes. You will start feeling NATURAL tugs. I had some natural tuggin' goin' on when I finally opened up my new Bible.Once you start surrendering yourself, He will REVEAL more to you.

Two of my favorite things from this chapter: "Decide that regardless of culture, tradition, reason, or emotion, you choose the Bible as your final authority." & "Daily Bible reading will keep you in range of God's voice." This chapter also discusses the importance of sharing our journey with others...our thoughts...our concerns...our experiences.... That is why I ENCOURAGE you to SHARE whatever it is you are thinking about these posts. It will help us all GROW more.

"Point to Ponder: The truth transforms me."

Daily Bible Verse: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31-32 (KJV)

Daily Question: "What has God already told me in his Word that I haven't started doing yet?"

From my journal after reading the first time: 1-Completely trusting Him and letting go of worry: I can tell I'm getting better, BUT when worldly pressures come down - the anxiety comes back. (THIS has gotten EXTREMELY better since the first time I read this chapter.) 2 - Reading the Bible cover to cover. (Working on that & have some guidance that has been working for me.) 3 - Learning more - specifically about my church. 4 - I started forgiving people on "my list," but I have not started forgiving each one: Some I need to forgive & some I need to ask for forgiveness. (I've talked to MOST everyone on "my list," but haven't talked to everyone yet.)

Buck Up Baby & Ride With Jesus. If you don't have one, go get you a BIBLE. It'll be the best readin' material, road map, & instruction manual you'll EVER find. God Bless!