Planning Your Life (Part Two)

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Planning Your Life (Part Two)</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id460.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Planning Your Life and Living According "><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id463.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gods Plan for Financial Fitness: A Commi"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"Planning Your Life" (part 2) </B></div> <div> <B>Berean Bible Church, July 11, 2004am</B></div> <bR> <div>      Pastor Randy Frazee, in his book <I>Making Room for Life</I> wrote about his trip to Israel. They were on a bus. He writes, "then our Arab-Christian tour guide grabbed the microphone at the front of the bus and turned my world upside down. He said, 'Off to your right you will see the mobile residence of the Bedouin shepherd and his family. Once their livestock has grazed the available vegetation, the family will pick up their humble homes and move to a new place to repeat the cycle.' He went on to say that the average Bedouin lives to be over one hundred years old! Without even meaning to, I blurted out, 'How can this be?' Abed, the guide, informed us of a study recently completed by the government of Israel. They were just as curious about the Bedouin's longevity as I was and wanted to get to the bottom of their secret, bottle it, and sell it alongside the mineral-rich mud of the Dead Sea that promises to create youthful skin. It was obvious by looking at them that the Bedouin did not apply the mudpacks to their faces, but they did something far better. The first hunch was to study the diet of the Bedouin. While it is true that their meals include whole foods, no preservatives, no candy, and a moderate intake of meat, this was not the number one cause of the Bedouin's longevity. Abed revealed the secret: no stress. This makes complete sense! Stress makes us sick, drives us crazy, and can kill us some thirty years before a poor shepherd dies at the age of a hundred. Most Bedouin would not change places with us, even if given the opportunity." They work hard, but they live with balance.</div> <div>      Most of us, not all, experience more stress, more often, than God intended. We looked last time at the various things God himself intended for us to experience, with balance. Time for God and spiritual growth, for family, for relationships and service to others, for work, and for rest. But keeping things in balance is a difficult task. If we are at all ambitious and desirous to do something with our lives, we find ourselves doing too much, more than God intended. We may ask, "what would Jesus do?" He would live more simply, more balanced. Jesus focused on doing the will of the Father, and he had time he needed for the Father, for family and for relationships, for work, for rest. On the cross he was able to say, my work here is finished, and he was only 33.</div> <div>      What do we do about the many activities and obligations we are involved in, and how do we do it without dying young of stress-related disease? What did Jesus have in mind for the schedules of his followers?</div> <bR> <div> <B>I. If we are going to live with balance, we have to understand two basic princples:</B></div> <div> <B>A. </B><A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Luk+14:25-33" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U><B>Luke 14:25-33</B></U></A><B>: Plan your life wisely according to available resources.</B></div> <div>      Consider the cost, since you don't possess unlimited resources (vss. 28-32). Every commitment, task, appointment, activity costs you time. You can't spend more time than you have. So make choices ahead of time about your time and obligations, so you spend time on things that matter. Following Christ is at the center - have you considered the implications? He demands total allegiance of his followers. That means that he sets you agenda, today and every day. His will becomes your will.</div> <div> <B>B. </B><A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=2Tim+2:3-4" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U><B>2 Timothy 2:3-4</B></U></A><B>: Focus on the tasks you have planned, and avoid distractions.</B></div> <div>      Howard Hendricks said, "The secret of concentration is elimination." When you have decided what you are going to do, focus on doing it, in spite of the other opportunities and temptations. Follow through, without giving in to distractions.</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. A basic process for getting things under control and accomplished (or getting the right things started).</B></div> <div> <B>A . </B><B>Understand that time, like money and life itself, is a limited commodity.</B> </div> <div>      You don't have time for most things, even for every good and worthwhile thing. Exercise your use of the word "no" (to the appropriate things). Use your limited time to do the will of God.</div> <div> <B>B. </B><B>Identify your basic values, roles (family member, employee, etc.), commitments and priorities. </B></div> <div> <B>     </B>What are you as a person all about? What really matters to you?</div> <div> <B>C. </B><B>Make a list of your current obligations.</B></div> <div>      What agreements have you made with yourself and others? What have you already decided needs to be done? Be conservative in estimating how much time you have available and be generous in estimating how long things will take. And you have to leave space for the unexpected.</div> <div>      Ask, do your values match up with how you are spending your time? Is there a match between your priorities and activities? </div> <div> <B>D. </B><B>Make clear choices about what you are going to do with your time.</B> </div> <div>      Begin to make changes if you have to. E.g., magazine subscriptions you don't read; do you have to watch the TV shows you always watch?; do your kids have to do all the sports they do (have you measured the cost to your family, in time, stress, and money); do you have to work so many hours, do you have to work that job (is money that important?), do both parents have to work? If you were as in tune with the will of the Father as Jesus was, what would your life look like? What has God called and gifted you to do? By the way, salary is not the primary consideration.</div> <div> <B>E. </B><B>Decide clearly what actions are necessary to fulfill your chosen commitments, and write them down.</B> </div> <div>      On any given day, what are the things you have to do? If you have projects, what are the actions or steps involved in finishing the project? If you don't know, you have to make decisions. You can't do what you need to do, until you decide what to do. The reason things pile up is because we fail to decide what to do with it. Even if we have a fuzzy idea, we still have to decide, what is the very next thing I need to do with it? </div> <div>      New obligations come into your environmemt every day (mail, email, conversations, stuff from your boss, volunteer activities, things your kids are involved in, etc.). Collect things in one place at work and home (an in-basket). Decide, what do you need to do with it? You can trash it or file it for reference (purge once a year). If you have to DO something, you can do it now, delegate it (if you have the authority; and always be careful about making others attend to <I>your </I>priorities), or you can plan to do it later. If you plan to do it later, see the following step.</div> <div> <B>F. </B><B>Keep track of your obligations and specific tasks in a regularly reviewed and updated system.</B></div> <div>      You need a calendar for appointments and time-specific actions, and you need lists of projects and actions associated with those projects. If you have your actions and responsibilities written down and updated in a trusted system, you don't have to lay awake at night wondering if there's stuff you should be doing and not knowing what it is. Write it all down so you can relax. Write it down so you don't forget, because it is too easy to forget, with all that is going on. And review it regularly, so that any given moment you can be following through on the tasks you have chosen, to accomplish the things you wanted to accomplish.</div> <div>      For more help, see the website, <A HREF="http://www.getmoredone.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.getmoredone.com/"><U>www.getmoredone.com</U></A>, especially the time tips. See also <A HREF="http://www.gettingthingsdone.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.gettingthingsdone.com"><U>www.gettingthingsdone.com</U></A>, from David Allen. Click <A HREF="http://www.stanbaker.org/pdf/MakingRoomForLife-Frazee.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.stanbaker.org/pdf/MakingRoomF"><U>here</U></A> to download an excerpt from the book <I>Making Room For Life</I>, by Pastor Randy Frazee.</div> <bR> <div>      It's my dream that we would be a church filled with people who are in tune with the will of the Heavenly Father for our time and money. At the end of life, <I>we</I> can say, "It is finished," and we can go home to Jesus. Someone has said, "when it is time to die, make sure dying is all you have left to do." Get everything else done.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Questions for Thought and Discussion:</B></div> <div> 1. How is your level of focus on the things you need to do? What makes focus difficult, and what strategies can you employ today to help you better focus on the task at hand?</div> <bR> <div> 2. Discuss with a friend or group what really matters to you. Talk about what you want your life to be all about.</div> <bR> <div> 3. After you make a list of your current obligations and things to do, talk with a friend or group what things you could dump from the list. How can you clean up the loose ends your life so you can focus on doing the will of God each day?</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2004, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>