26Dec 2017 by admin No Comments

Tell me what you think about this:

I was talking with a guy I work with about having God in my life.

He told me he would personally much rather spend his time helping people than going to church.

He thought that going to church was not constructive when it comes to spending his time and energy helping out his neighbors.

Does this sound close to how you feel? Do you often feel that going to church is a waste of time?

Read about the formula I gave him so he could help out his neighbor even better and gather more strength for him and his family.

What is Balance in Life? Easy Formula

Tom is a guy in his forties that I’ve had the pleasure to work with for a few years. We were taking a break from a test system build project one day, and we got on the subject of going to church. He knew that I was a regular attender, and he also attends, but he said he goes a couple times a month, maybe.

Tom is sort of disillusioned about attending church all the time because of the ‘country club’ aspect of church going. After a few words, I said to Tom, “Hey, Yahweh, the God of the bible, completely understands the notion that each of us have about being independent. He put it there! (article here)

“He knows that we thrive on thinking that we have control, and he knows that we like making all decisions for ourselves. It’s an important part of our makeup. It’s how he designed us.

“And he also knows that we thrive on having a central focus that powers that decision-making. This is a part of the living life to the full (article here).

“Again, he knows these things because he put them there! He wants to be that center of our attention and to help us power through our day.

“He wants us to see what the balance in life is all about so we can thrive.”

Then I told him about the very basis for balance: how the balance began.

“This is why the Trinity exists (article here). The Trinity and the Balancing Act form the relationship boundaries between us and Yahweh.”

He gave me that quizzical look that told me I was nuts, but he gestured for me to tell him more. So I went to the white board and grabbed a marker.

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What is the Balancing Act?

“Jesus gave us this formula in Matthew 22:36-39”, I said.

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’c]”>[c]

38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’d]”>[d]

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“God wants our hearts. He doesn’t need our time and our treasures for himself. What I mean by that is that he already owns all of those things.

What God wants is for us to manage our time and treasures for him so they can be used for his purposes.

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God Gets it Done Regardless

The Balancing Act and the Circle of Life

“Whether or not we possess and give these things doesn’t mean God won’t get his chores done another way.

“But God wants our hearts. He wants us to understand that this balance in life is what makes life work best for ourselves and for others.”

Then, I drew The Balancing Act triangle. Well, the one I drew that day was just a little rougher looking than this one you see on the page.

“Because we’re stronger when we worship God and nurture ourselves, we now have a chance to have our hearts right when we help our neighbor.

“And our giving is more magnified and effective when the first two are in place.

“The love of neighbor in the balance equation is manifested by how we give our time and treasures.

“He wants our hearts in the right place to do that. Not so that it’s a chore or done out of guilt or only done because it’s a great tax deduction.

“The act of loving our neighbor becomes very satisfying and fulfilling. It nurtures ourselves at the same time.

“When our hearts are right, we are attempting to love God with all of our strength. When our minds are in the right place, we are taking care of ourselves to the best of our abilities.”

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What it All Means

There are obvious parallels of math when looking at the balancing act graphic above, and Yahweh designed it that way! Remove any one of the sub-triangles and there is a problem.

There will be future articles probing the depths of this!! Stay tuned to this frequency…

The overall message of the graphic is clear, though. We exist together in harmony with God our Father, Yahweh, at the head. He is our leader and source of strength.

Because we’re designed by our Father with the power of choice, we make natural decisions to nurture ourselves.

As we nurture ourselves, we are drawn to help support, feed and clothe others that need our help.

As our strength wanes, we reach out and re-dedicate our hearts to the Father, who continually feeds us through continued learning and growing.

The opposite of not nurturing ourselves often results in selfishness – and sometimes kicking neighborly love to the curb.

But take heart. We’re given the free gift of the Holy Spirit to give us strength. We’re given help navigating this broken world.

The guidance of the Spirit is with us so we don’t have to do any of it in our own strength.

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Relationship Boundaries It all works because of the natural boundaries that exist between us.

Boundary 1:

God established that he is the Creator who lives apart from this world. He is the source of our power.

Boundary 2:

Jesus, who was with the Father in the beginning, says that he is the only way mankind can approach God (remember, I'm not talking about some universal notion of God, I'm referring to Yahweh, the God of the Jews of the bible).

Boundary 3:

We are given the power of choice, which should tell all others in this world that sometimes we choose to be by ourselves or to get our own way.

That power sometimes leads us to try and convince others of our methods. That same power trains us to feed and protect our families. That same power leads us into making decision of service for our neighbors.

At all times, we are in control of this choice.

That is our natural, God-breathed boundary. As a part of this boundary condition, we see how important it is that we nurture our strength, for we know that no one else would naturally take care of us unless we choose to do that.

Right?

Celebrate Your Power of Choice

It’s important to recognize and celebrate our power of choice. The continued cycle of life in the balancing act depends upon it!

Some souls on this earth have more strength than others when it comes to serving the poor and those in need. It takes all of us. We’re all called to help, but that doesn’t mean that these souls that have more strength and serve the poor more often are more holy in God’s eyes!

We will better ourselves and ready ourselves for the calling of service as we are equipped to do so. All the more reason to plug in to this formula.

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True Religion

When we don’t choose to get involved in what James, the brother of Jesus, calls true religion (article here) – God’s type of religion – the circle of life as shown above breaks down.

“What about those who say that they don’t need God, but they see the need to help themselves and others?,” my friend Tom said.

“Well, even though they don’t see the need for the triangle, their strength for doing both will be zapped sooner. But even for those who keep finding strength without God, they may be using their efforts on things that don’t mean so much.”

“Is there something wrong with that?”

“No, no not in my eyes. Maybe God’s. That’s between themselves and God. But one thing’s for sure: when we leave God out of the equation, we’re not paying attention to our power source.

James says in his book, chapter 4:

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13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”

14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

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“We all have a power source. If people believe that they are their own power source and thrive on that, yet they don’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow, they’re soaring without a flight plan. If they don’t have any in-flight refueling strategy, they’re gonna crash and burn.”

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( I don’t blame Tom at all about feeling like he is sometimes missing out on all of this at church. Our chat didn’t include anything about where he was going to church.

But next time I talk with him about this, I want to encourage him to find a church that does talk about how to nurture this cycle of life.

I want to encourage him, and you, to find a church that understands The Balancing Act and the Circle of Life. Seek out a pastor who will answer your questions. )

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What’s Next?

Find the strength to live life fully and to refuel. Going to church is a great way to get connected with God. It’s not the only way, but it is the best place to seek counsel and learn about the cycle of life as it connects with the balancing act.

Joining a community of like-minded folks can help you sharpen your saw.

Choose to give your heart to the sovereign God of the Universe.

Believe that Jesus sacrificed himself for you.

Accept the free gift of the Holy Spirit to help guide you through this life and to many victories!

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Religion says: ‘do’. Jesus says: ‘DONE’.

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