IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU! 3/6/11

WHAT was the best decision you made this past week? Did it involve only you? Were you asked to do something that someone else could have done? My answers would be; I don’t know, to all three questions. I don’t think in terms of the best decision because usually when I decide to do something it is because it needs to be done or I just want to do it. Usually if Jim is okay with it, he does it with me!

IN A WOMEN’S study called “You’ve Got What it Takes; ” by Dr. Judy Hamlin, there is a section called “Life out of balance”. I have used the illustration given with walnuts and rice; sometimes with ping pong balls and beans. When you put all the ping pong balls or the walnuts into the empty mayonnaise jar you have plenty of room to add the rice or beans. If you do it in the reverse the jar fills up with rice or beans and there is barely enough room for anything else.

WHEN it is all about us we have a tendency to fill our lives with all the things we want. Things that make us happy; wanted; beautiful/handsome. We don’t really think about anyone else, just what pleases us. I call that age; the 1 to 5 syndrome! Some never seem to grow up!

I HAVE made two very important decisions, in my life, that changed the directions I could have gone in! The first one was when I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior when I was 9 years old. I took it personally! I have wandered, but never far enough to be lost in the shuffle of life. The second was when I accepted Jim’s proposal of marriage. I was old enough! I was ready for children! I was scared to death! But he said he loved me and I believed him!

THE BALANCE of life is when you learn about Jesus Christ. When you have Jesus in your everyday life you can walk perpendicular; upright, vertical! You will have time for God’s priorities for you. I can hear you ask; what are those priorities? Let’s look at God’s word!

“THEN Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Luke 18:1 “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of scriptures, to preaching and to teaching.” 1 Timothy 4:13 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Being a servant of God means we are to be prepared and we can only do that by reading His word and talking to Him. Telling others of those things we have learned!

“BE DRESSED, ready for service and keep your lamps burning.” Luke 12:35 You must manage your own family well and see that your children obey their mothers and fathers with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can He take care of God’s family.)” 1 Timothy 3:4-5 “If anyone does not provide for his relatives and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8

LET’S put some of these in perspective! God, family, church, work, service, friends, organizations, school and your list could go on and on and on. When our life is in balance the first 7 ping ball balls could be; God, family, church, service, friends, organizations, school and all the beans you add, are all of the everyday things that you do; you want to do; and things you thought you never could do.

WE DON’T always make the right decisions; nor do we always do the right things; we are vulnerable to our own desires. Evaluate your time; identify areas you need to work on. I have never regretted my first two decisions. I have never felt burned out or inadequate! God has shown me how to do all the things that I have been asked to do, not to mention all the things that I have asked to do. Remember that in “2011, God has given us all the time we need, to do all the things He wants us to, as we continue our journey to heaven. By Jane Ann Crenshaw 3/5/11