Balance For Busy Believers
BALANCE FOR BUSY BELIEVERS
11/2/2002 AND 11/3/2002
3 John 2 NKJV
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
NCV
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
The Message
The Pastor, to my good friend Gaius: How truly I love you! We’re the best of friends, and I pray for good fortune in everything you do, and for your good health—that your everyday affairs prosper, as well as your soul! I was most happy when some friends arrived and brought the news that you persist in following the way of Truth. Nothing could make me happier than getting reports that my children continue diligently in the way of Truth!
1 Thessalonians 5 NIV
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Message
Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
Don’t suppress the Spirit, and don’t stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.
May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!
-If you look at the insert in your bulletin you will see a self-examination balance test.
-You need to mark were you are in each area and then see if your spokes run together. Does your wheel look lopsided?
-We are looking at balance for busy believers. I stole the title from something I heard but I’m preaching my message around their title.
-If I think about the word “balance” I like to interchange it with the word “wisdom”.
-Wisdom knows and doing what is most important.
Psalm 90
12 Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Websters-balance-“stability produced by even distribution of weight on each side of the vertical axis/mental and emotional steadiness
-See “Margin” for some of the causes of instability.
-We are entering the holiday season and that is a very busy time. The emotional let down after the holidays is very difficult for some people.
-Jesus talked about the value of trade-offs and priorities.
Luke 9 NIV
25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
New Century Version
“It is worth nothing for them to have the whole world if they themselves are destroyed or lost.”
-If we are out of balance, even if we are excelling and successful somewhere else. When one area is out of kilter, the wheel just doesn’t roll right.
-I’m going to get to some specifics but first we need to see that balance is preceded by at least two things:
DESTINY
(Why are you doing what you are doing? Is your life centered in God’s dream for you?)
DISCIPLINE
(Balance is a continual adjustment. It takes discipline to act on decisions. Wisdom is knowing and doing the right thing. You can have all the info for a good marriage or a healthy body but you have to be acting on it.)
-Let’s look at a guy who had it going for him but he wasn’t balanced.
Exodus 18 NIV
2 After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah ,(Did Moses divorce her? “Put her away”) his father-in-law Jethro received her 3 and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, a for Moses said, “I have become an alien in a foreign land”; 4 and the other was named Eliezer, b for he said, “My father’s God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.”
5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the desert, where he was camped near the mountain of God. 6 Jethro had sent word to him, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”
7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent. 8 Moses told his father-in-law about everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them.
9 Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. 10 He said, “Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.
13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”
15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and laws.”
17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”
24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.
27 Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.
-Here is Moses the great leader and his life is out of control.
-Moses was trained in Egypt in the skills of the day. He had a lot going for him but he had lost his balance.
-His family was a mess. His ministry was wearing him out and the people weren’t being helped properly.
-Jethro helped him prioritize and use wisdom. He needed some practical advice.
-I’m reluctant to categorize and compartmentalize our lives because that is part of out problem.
-We tend to separate our lives into segments and work on one at a time.
-There are different ways to do what I just said we shouldn’t do.
spirit/soul/body
spiritual/family/social/physical/financial/ emotional
spiritual/financial/emotional/health
faith/fitness/family/finances/fun
-One of the keys to a balanced life is to see that these overlap.
-We feel like we have to do one at a time. The key is multi-task.
-I can ride a bike and talk to Becky at the same time. I can go to church with my kids and fellowship with people and hopefully it is fun as well.
-It is very difficult to program fun.
-The same is true with family time. In our culture that is a slow motion movie of all of us smiling and running toward each other and hugging in mid-air.
-You can have family time on the way to church. Some more than others.
-I’m going to give the mini-version of some of these things.
-Finish this one at home. Look at your life. Examine your relationships and lifestyle.
-Is it out of control?
Romans 12 TLB
12 And so, dear brothers and sisters,* I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
1-SPIRITUAL
-The only way to have balance spiritually is to put God at the center.
Matthew 6
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
-This comes from the discipline of spending time with God daily and hanging out with believers who encourage you forward and upward.
-This is something you do alone as well as with your family.
-This isn’t measured by your activity but by how comfortable you are with God.
-Are you aware of Him in your life? Are you letting Him invade every area?
Psalm 89 NIV
Matthew 6
15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,
who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.
16 They rejoice in your name all day long;
they exult in your righteousness.
2. FITNESS
-If you’ve ever seen my fountain example you see bowl number two is you.
-If you aren’t reflecting God’s glory in you after you behold it, you could be in trouble.
-If you aren’t healthy you can begin to resent those closest to you.
-Paul told the Ephesian elders to take heed to themselves and to the flock of God.
-This overlaps with spiritual but it is crucial.
-Are you expressing your heart to God like David did in the Psalms?
-I can throw physical fitness in here.
-I have a sense that we are going to experience baby boomers dying by the multitudes in the next decades.
-McDonalds was born with this generation.
-Convenience foods along with less physical exercise have given way to obesity.
See USA Today article
-Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
-How important is an extra 30 years to you?
-We need to fight sickness with all the resources we have.
-I was going to the gym Friday and hating the thought of it. But discipline overrode my feelings.
-I encourage you to seek God for healing. Get check-ups. Take care of yourself.
3. FINANCIAL
-In America we have Jehovah-Visa who provides all of our needs.
-Once when Becky and I were in dire financial straights we stopped using credit and were forced to trust God and money came to us from several sources that very week.
-A catalog store owner said that when people run out of money they stop shopping for 6 weeks. Then they start again whether they can afford to or not.
-Credit is the system that allows us to live the way we could if we could afford to.
-Advertisement is designed to create artificial needs.
3 John 2 NKJV
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
-We will stop there since we have covered the areas of 3 John 2: spiritual, financial, and health.
-We may spend some more time here next week.
PRAYER FOR A HEART OF WISDOM/BALANCE