Month: December 2013

Let's now look at our next step …

STEP 4 – Organise Weekly 

To make the most of your time and to manage your life well means that you need to consider what you are doing with your time. That’s why a weekly planning appointment is so helpful. Use a calendar and schedule specific time for your important appointments, events and tasks, as well as for the implementation of your goals. A goal set and then never looked at again will never be achieved. It takes character, commitment and determination to turn good intentions into reality.

God is a great time manager. He not only had a vision for a new world to be created but he formulated a strategic plan for his week that enabled him to accomplish his goal one day at a time and one step at a time (see Gen.1). We should do the same.

Ensure that your priorities (the 'big rocks') are put into your week first, lest your week fill up with urgent but unimportant things. Effective people KNOW and then DO what is most important.

Take your goals and schedule them in your weekly calendar. That way you will ensure that you are taking action towards fulfilling your life Mission.

• "Planning your day, rather than allowing it to unfold at the whim of others, is the single most important piece of the time management puzzle. A daily plan, in writing, is the single most effective time management strategy, yet not one person in ten does it.”
• "He is a wise man who wastes no energy on pursuits for which he is not fitted; and he is wiser still who from amongst the things he can do well, chooses and resolutely follows the best." [William Gladstone]
• The enemy of the "best" is the "good".
• Anything less than a conscious commitment to the important is an unconscious commitment to the unimportant.
• What is the one activity that you know if you did superbly well and consistently would have significant positive results in your personal or work life? If you know this thing would make such a significant difference, why are you not doing it now?
• "Seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness and all these other things will be added to you as well." [Matt.6:33]
• "Life is like a coin; you can spend it any way you wish, but you can spend it only once. Life places before us hundreds of possibilities. Some are bad, many are good, a few are best. But each of us must decide … 'What priority takes first place in my life?'" [Charles Swindoll]
• There are two things that are most difficult to get people to do: to think and to do things in order of importance. Thinking ahead and prioritising responsibilities marks the major differences between an effective and ineffective person. The discipline to prioritise and the ability to work towards a stated goal are essential to a leader's success. The ability to juggle three or four high priority projects successfully is a must for every successful person.
• The reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first. Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things. Efficiency is the foundation for survival. Effectiveness is the foundation for success.
• You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything. The art of being wise is the 'art of knowing what to overlook'. The petty and the mundane steal much of our time. The good is often the enemy of the best. All effective people have learned to say "No" to the good in order to say "Yes" to the best.
• The Pareto Principle states that the top 20% of your priorities will give 80% of your results IF you know them and utilise your resources on the top 20%.
• Work Smart. It's not how hard you work but how smart you work. A life in which anything goes will ultimately be a life in which nothing goes.  The issue is priorities. Put first things first.

When considering the issue of priorities, John Maxwell suggest considering three things (from his book Developing the Leader Within You):

1. Requirement. What is required of me? What do I "have to" do whether I like it or not? What do I have to do that no one else can do except me?
2. Return. What gives the greatest return? What do I do well that significantly benefits others?
3. Reward. What gives me the greatest joy? What do I do that keeps me motivated in my work? What do I look forward to doing?

Success in you work will be greatly increased if the three "R's" are similar. In other words, if the requirements of my job are the same as the strengths that give me the highest return, and doing those bring me great pleasure – then I will be successful if I act upon my priorities.

Maxwell goes on to suggest three things to do every month to keep your priorities in place:

1. Evaluate. "Where am I?" Review what is required of you (what do you have to do that no one else can do and what can be delegated?), what gives you the greatest return and what is most rewarding? Evaluate or Stalemate. Take regular times aside to evaluate your priorities, your use of time and your progress.
2. Eliminate. What am I doing that should be done or could be done by somebody else? Delegate it if it must be done.
3. Estimate. What are the top projects you are doing this month and how long will they take? What will it take to accomplish this?

For some more extensive tips on better time management, click here.

Part 12

Step 1 of Planning for the New Year was Understand Your Mission. Step 2 was Identify Your Roles.  Let's now move on to Step 3.

STEP 3 – Establish Goals. As Paul identified each role, he gave some specific instructions or goals for the believers at the church of Ephesus to work on. Wives were to lovingly submit to their husbands (Eph.5:22-24), husbands were to love their wives as Christ loved the church (5:25-33), children were to obey and honour their parents (6:1-3), parents were to raise their children in God’s ways (6:4), servants were to obey their masters even when they were not watching (6:5-8), masters were to treat their servants fairly (6:9), and believers were to take on God’s armour and stand strong against the attack of the enemy (6:10-18).

Once your Mission and Roles have been established, Goals must be set that will help you achieve your purpose in life. For each role that you have right now, think about what kind of a person you'd like to be and what you'd like to accomplish. Without goals, mission remains abstract and you will coast along without any sense of progress or achievement. You must prayerfully contemplate the various areas of your life and wisely plan and set goals so that progress can be made. 

If you aim at nothing you are bound to hit it! If you don't set goals, you are just surviving, not really living. With no effort, you will settle into comfortable patterns and habits. It takes a great degree of effort to escape the inertia of the comfort zone. That’s why goals are important. A goal is a planned conflict with the status quo. Reaching a goal means doing something new, leaving familiar, comfortable terrain, and exploring new frontiers. Sometimes we don't want to leave our comfort zones. Forsaking old, well-known patterns can be one of the most difficult things in life. This is probably the main reason why so many people don't set goals. Goals usually push us to new behaviours we'd rather not have to worry about.

Good goals are SMART. They are Specific, Measurable, Action-orientated, Realistic and Time-bound.

A fuzzy goal would be something like this:

• "I will be a better small group leader next year."

• "I will become a better small group leader next year by … reading two books on small group leadership, finding a more experienced leader to mentor me, praying for each member daily, and by selecting then developing an assistant leader."

Consider establishing SMART goals for each area of your life – your spiritual life, your personal health, your personal development, your relationships, your family, your ministry, your vocation or career, as well as your finances.

The Christian life is intended to be a life of continual growth. There is meant to be a progressive moving forward through various experiences and stages of development until we reach maturity in Christ (Prov.4:18-19. Phil.3:12-16. 2 Pet.3:18. Col.1:10. Heb. 6:1). Goals help us to ensure that this occurs.

Review your list of current roles and prayerfully set some goals in each area for the next three months.

Part 11

STEP 1 in Planning for the New Year is to Understand Your Mission. We have considered a number of things to help us get a better handle on our mission: a mission statement, core values, personal vision, prophetic directives, our unique SHAPE, and a SWOT analysis. These all work together to show us different aspects or perspectives of our life mission.

Let’s move on to Step 2 now.

STEP 2 – Identify Your Roles

After encouraging each believer to understand God’s will for their life (Eph.5:15-17), the Apostle Paul then identified a number of specific roles or responsibilities that a believer may have. As a family member, you may be a wife (Eph.5:22-24) or a husband (5:25-33), a child (6:1-3) or a parent (6:4). In the workplace you may be a servant (6:5-8) or a master (6:9). Of course, each believer is a soldier in God’s army, which is involved in a spiritual battle (6:10-18).

In the same way, God’s mission for your life will be outworked through a variety of roles that he has called you to fulfill. These will change as you move through the various seasons of your life. For example, right now you may be a student, a daughter, a sister, a church member, and a part time employee. In a few years time you may be an employer, a wife, and a church member. Later on you may be a wife, a mother, and a worship leader.

Identify all the roles that you have right now. Think through each one and ensure that you keep perspective and maintain balance in your overall life. True success is doing well at each of the roles God has given you for this moment in your life. Success in one area to the detriment of other areas is not God’s intention for your life. He wants you to succeed in business, and as a church leader, and to have a fulfilling marriage, etc.

What are your roles? Make a list of them all. Then reduce, combine, or consolidate them into a list of no more than 7 roles.

Part 10

Another simple tool to help you as you continue to think through your Mission is a SWOT analysis.

SWOT stands for:

1. Strengths – what are you good at? When do you feel strong?
2. Weaknesses – what do you find difficult? What drains you of energy?
3. Opportunities – what are the greatest opportunities facing you right now?
4. Threats – what are the greatest threats facing you right now?

Jesus used this approach when he sent letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor (see Revelation 2-3). He commended them for some things (strengths), adjusted some things (weaknesses), gave them any necessary warnings (threats), and then finished with some promises of reward for overcoming (opportunities).

Take a piece of paper and draw four quadrants; then write each of these four words at the top of each quadrant. Make a quick list of what comes to your mind under each category. At this stage don’t evaluate the comments, just list as many as possible.

Then take some time to reflect on how this could influence or relate to your Mission in life.

Part 9

Another helpful thing to consider when reflecting on your Mission is your personal SHAPE.

SHAPE is a concept developed by Rick Warren and it includes consideration of five things:

1. Spiritual Gifts – what spiritual gifts has God given to you?
2. Heart – what are your passions, interests, and motivations?
3. Abilities – what are you good at?
4. Personality – what type of personality do you have?
5. Experience – what is your life experience, as well as your education?

These five things work together to form your unique SHAPE. After all, our purpose in life isn't so much something we decide, as it is something we discover. God has SHAPEd each one of us for a unique purpose. We could do a variety of different things with our life but we will be most fulfilled and most effective when we give ourself to the purpose for which God has created us.

Take time today to reflect on your own SHAPE.

"God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly." [Rom 12:6-8. NLT]

"God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. [Eph.2:8-10. NLT]

"God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God's generosity can flow through you. Are you called to be a speaker? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belong to him forever and ever. Amen." [1 Peter 4:10-11. NLT]

Part 8

Another dimension of Mission is considering any Prophetic Directives God may have given you. This includes any specific prophetic words God has given to you directly or from others, as well as any specific Bible verses God has quickened for you.

Listening to the Spirit's directives and then following them creates a sense of spiritual momentum in your life. Spiritual Momentum answers the question, “What is God saying or doing right now?” Momentum comes from a combination of God’s work in our lives, along with our responsiveness to keeping in step with the Spirit.

Jesus continually sought to see and know what the Father was doing so he could align his life and ministry activities accordingly. In the same way, we should value the prophetic anointing and seek to continually live in tune with the Spirit.

What prophecies have you received over the years? Have you written them out? If so, review them today. If not, set some time aside to write them out. [For a document explaining the prophetic ministry, click here]

What Bible verses has God specifically given to you? Write them out and keep them somewhere close where you can review them regularly.

God has a unique plan and purpose for your life. As you take time to listen to his voice, he will speak to you and show you things to come (John 16:13). We'll continue tomorrow.

"Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecies spoken to you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right, and God will save you and those who hear you." [1 Tim 4:14-16. NLT]

"Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Keep away from every kind of evil." [1 Thess 5:19-22. NLT]

Part 7

Another aspect of Mission is Vision.

Vision answers the question, “Where?” Where are you going in the next period of time (3-5 years)? What is on the horizon and which way are you heading?

Leaders are called by God to communicate a preferred picture of the future that motivates people with passion to give their lives to make it a reality (see Prov.29:18 and Hab.2:1-3). Vision must be clear, specific and should lead us towards further fulfilling your mission.

Jesus had a clear vision of what he wanted to accomplish during his short ministry time on earth, as well as a long term vision of the future. This included the work of redemption (‘the joy set before him’), kingdom values, a leadership team, and a church in every nation (Acts 1:8).

At CityLife Church, after an extended time of prayer and discussion, we articulated a vision for the year 2010 back in 2002, which we referred to as our Vision 2010. Last year we used DEVOTE 3 as our vision. In February, 2014 we will launch a new 3 year vision for our church, which we are really excited about. Vision paints a picture of what a church could look like, by God's grace and through our focused efforts. Our We Have a Dream statement achieves a similar thing.

There is also benefit in creating a personal vision statement – a picture of what you believe God wants your life to look like over the next few years.

Here is my Personal Vision Statement.

My vision is to create:

1. A life that portrays authentic discipleship to Jesus Christ.
2. A family that experiences genuine love.
3. A ministry characterised by wisdom and the power of the Spirit.
4. A church that models effective evangelism, discipleship, community, and ministry.
5. A movement of like-minded church congregations that impact their local communities.
6. A variety of resources and learning experiences that draw people closer to God and that inspire and equip them to maximise their potential for the benefit of God's kingdom.

What is your vision? What do you see in your future? Begin writing out what you see.

Part 6

Another dimension of Mission is Values.

Values answer the question, “Who?” Who are you? What is important to you? What are you building on and what do you hope to outlast you?

Jesus had specific values that he was building His kingdom on and he made them very clear to everyone. “You have heard it said that … but I say to you … (Matt.5:21-22, etc).” In others words, “This is the way I want things done around here.” This is how I want my house and my kingdom to function.

At CityLife Church we have twelve Core Values that provide the foundation of everything we do. They include:  Jesus Christ, the Bible, the Ministry of the Holy Spirit, Discipleship, Prayer, Worship, Loving Relationships, Servanthood, Outreach, Relevance, Diversity and Excellence.

I think there is benefit in articulating personal core values also.

Here are my Personal Core Values:

1. Intimacy – Knowing God personally is my #1 priority.
2. Family – Those closest to me deserve my primary care and attention.
3. Integrity – My life is my message.
4. Love – Life and ministry are all about people.
5. Vision – I will passionately pursue God's cause on the earth.
6. Faith – God can be trusted to keep his promises.
7. Courage – I will conquer fear and live life boldly.
8. Excellence – I will be and do the very best I can for God's glory.
9. Anointing – I will live and minister by the Spirit's power.

Take some time today to think about what matters most to you. What do you value?  Who are you? What is important to you? Write out a list of everything you can think of, then condense it down to 5, 7, 10, or 12 core values.

Part 5 continues tomorrow.

Effective life planning involves SIX STEPS aimed at helping you to lead and manage your life well. Today we begin with Step 1.

STEP 1 – Understand Your Mission

The Apostle Paul tells us to “understand what the Lord’s will is” (Eph.5:17). What is God's will? What is God’s purpose for your life? How has he made you and what are your desires? Gaining a clear perspective on God's mission for your life is essential. Otherwise you will become very busy managing all the details of your life without any overall sense of purpose or direction.

There are a number of major aspects to your life mission:

• You are called first of all to be a child of God and to have a relationship with him.
• Secondly, you have a ministry to your own natural family.
• Thirdly, you have a ministry to fulfill within your own local church, the family of God.
• Finally, you have a ministry to serve and reach out to those who do not know Christ. This usually includes your career or work, where you seek to make the world a better place through your efforts.

Each one of us must invest time in prayer and contemplation, as well receiving wise counsel, to determine the specific and unique outworking of these four areas in our own life.

Mission answers the question, “Why?” Why are you here and why do you exist? This is core stuff for every person. Jesus had a clear sense of mission. He declared it often – “The Son of man came to seek and save the lost” (Lk.19:10), “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Lk.5:32), “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).” He also gave his disciples a clear sense of mission when he left, referred to as ‘the Great Commission’ (Matt.28:18-20).

Good mission statements are clear, memorable (short), and ‘big picture’ focused. Our church has a Mission Statement. I also think there is benefit in creating a personal mission statement.

Here is my personal mission statement, which I crafted quite a few years back (it has undergone a number of revisions – it's now a little more 'being' focused than 'doing'):

My purpose is to be an intimate friend and passionate lover of God who knows his heart and mind. By faith I will seek to please him and be actively involved in his work every day of my life.

Spend some time in prayer and reflection, then start to create your own personal mission statement – an expression of what you believe God’s purpose is for your life. Don’t be afraid to make a few drafts first, then over time craft the statement with words that accurately describe what you believe your life mission to be.

Over the next few days, we’ll unpack a variety of different aspects of God’s mission for your life. Then we’ll move on to the next five steps in life planning.

Part 4 tomorrow.

To begin our life planning process, we’ll make use of a reflection exercise. Reflection is all about pulling aside from the busyness of our life in order to contemplate and think about a specific thing. It is related to the concept of meditation, a common biblical practice which simply means to chew something over and over in your mind.

Set aside 20-30 minutes some time today and reflect on the following questions. This is not a test. These questions are merely to stimulate your thinking. Allow your mind to wander a bit. You might want to jot some of your thoughts down on a piece of paper or in a notebook.

• What ‘good news’ can you celebrate from this year? Make a list.
• What was the highlight of this year for you? What brought you the most joy? Why? What did you learn from this?
• What was the lowlight of this year for you? What caused you the most pain? Why? What did you learn from this?
• What excites you most about next year? What are you looking forward to? Why?
• What are you worried about most when you think about next year? What are you afraid of? Why?
• What needs to change next year? What do you want to do differently? Make a list.
• What is causing you the most stress right now? Why?
• What relationships are the most important to you? How are they going right now?
• What challenges will you face in the near year? Make a list. How do you feel about each one of them?
• If you knew you had just one year to live, what would you focus on? What would be different?

These are all ‘big picture’ questions that get you focused less on day-to-day activities and more on what is happening in your overall life and where you are heading. Keep the notes you’ve taken. We’ll look back at them over the next few days. Talk to you soon.

 "I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways." [Ps 119:15. NLT]

"Help me understand the meaning of your commandments, and I will meditate on your wonderful miracles." [Ps 119:27. NLT]

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." [Ps 139:23-24. NLT]

"I remember the days of old. I ponder all your great works. I think about what you have done." [Ps 143:5. NLT]

"I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles." [Ps 145:5. NLT]

"Let us test and examine our ways." [Lam 3:40. NLT]

Part 3

Many people spend more time planning for their holiday than they do planning their life. That’s a sobering thought. Over the next two weeks I’d like to lead you through a series of daily reflection exercises aimed at helping you to make next year your best year yet. After all, leading your own life is your responsibility and it is the key to you fulfilling God’s purpose for your life while here on planet earth. What could be more important?

All effective people know their priorities and then focus their energy on them. They know what is important and they keep “first things first” (Matt.6:33). It is essential that we use our time wisely in order to accomplish what God has called us to do. We need to ensure that urgent things don't keep us from doing what is really important.

Where are you heading? What's most important? What’s your priority? What are you aiming to accomplish? The issue is not whether next year will be busy or not, but what it will be busy with. Lots of activity does not always equal significant accomplishment.

Our lives are lived out in time and each person has the same amount of it every day. The truth is that we cannot manage time. We can only manage ourselves in relation to time. We cannot control how much time we have; we can only control how we use it. We cannot choose whether we spend it, but only how. Once we've used the time we’ve been given, it is gone – and it cannot be replaced.

Listen to what Paul had to say about our attitude towards life and time:

"Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." (Eph 5:15-17. NIV)

Essentially, Paul tells us that there are two types of people. There is the wise person who understands God’s will and purpose, makes the most of every opportunity and as a result uses their time wisely. In contrast, there is the foolish person who doesn’t understand God’s will, misses opportunities and therefore wastes their time. He urges us as believers to be like the wise person who takes full advantage of each occasion, time and season.

I pray that you will be like that wise person who uses their time well and that as a result you will live a joyful and fruitful life. 

Thoughts on Planning 

“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.” [Psalm 20:4. NIV]

“Commit your work to the LORD, and then your plans will succeed.” [Prov. 16:3. NLT]

“Plans succeed through good counsel; don't go to war without the advice of others.” [Prov. 20:18. NLT]

“Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” [Prov.21:5. NLT]

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” [Jer. 29:11. NLT]

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will …” [Eph 1:11. NIV]

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

“Today’s actions determine tomorrow’s achievements.”

Part 2 coming after Christmas Day. 

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

1) I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall in.

I am lost . . .

I am hopeless.

It isn’t my fault.

It takes forever to find a way out.

2) I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend I don’t see it.

I fall in again.

I can’t believe I am in the same place.

But, it isn’t my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

3) I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it is there.

I still fall in . . . it’s a habit.

My eyes are open I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately

4) I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

5) I walk down another street.

By Portia Nelson