Apr. 21 Life - the way it was meant to be lived
Stand up - close your eyes, point north - Check w/ compass
Today we will explore true north - life the way it was meant to be lived
Acts 2:42-47 Christians living the life Jesus lived, not knowing all the rules , Jesus was the truth
Important vs. Not important defined
Luke 10:42 - Urgent vs. Not urgent defined
What is needful? Urgent Not Urgent
Important Middle yr. Goals for age 70-90? 1 3 Meditation time Schedule action - follow up Most important Self control leadership
Not Important 2 The enemy of the best is the good. Tyranny of Urgent - to who, others? contributing consuming 4 Burnout couch potatoes
Covey’s grid
Compass
Direction Vision
Values - Mission
Dreams Goals
Sharpen
(all saw no sharpen makes life dull)
Clock
Action, movement spending, working achievement, calendars and commitments
SawThe clock & compass are great metaphors for life. What direction are you heading how do spend your time?
Important tasks often do not have to be done today or tomorrow and so we can put them off.
Urgent tasks cry out to be done immediately. So we do urgent things and leaving the important things undone.When Clock and Compass not in sync
Tension, Drift Crisis
(danger - opportunity - Hebrew Birthing Stool)
No one on their death bed wishes they had spent more time in the office.
And yet, almost no one is doing anything about the amount of time they spend in the office
Goethe - The things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.
Don’t be so absorbed in climbing the ladder that you get to the top and realize that it is leaning on the wrong wall. When you feel the tension that is created by you compass and your clock not matching up. Don’t look for a quick fix or another thing to add to your clock that will give you a perk. But take the time to resettle your life, to realign it to make your clock match your compass. Most time management assumes that you really know what is good for you to spend your time doing and helps you squeeze it all in. When in reality there is a lot of things that aren’t worth doing at all and we need to fan it out and we will have more time than we really need.
Is the clock taking the place of the compass? Is the clock helping to fulfill the purpose of the compass?
Clock directs not compass
Aim at nothing and hit it
Drift Tons of time Unaccounted Life Unimportant things
Busy sounds important - Hogwash
Compass Directs
Say "No" confidently, no guilt
Sense of accomplishment
Life of value and satisfaction
Efficiency not goal - meaning is (how can you be efficient with your wife, hobby, God?)
Quality plus quantity
We control our choices, the things we value.
We don’t control the consequences.
Pick up one end of the stick the other end comes with it.
This important but not urgent area is an area that requires self-leadership, self-control and discipline to be active on and yet it is one of the most productive, probably the most productive area.
Take time to get centered and focused. What is important in my life and how can I move in that direction?
Self-awareness, conscience, imaginative creativity and an independent will, these help us determine what are the important things to do.
These four things are gifts from God. They give us the freedom to choose and be transformed and changed.
These four areas help us to align our life with the true north.
1. Self awareness is the ability to look at ourselves from outside of ourselves. To consider our own choices, our behavior and the consequences we will receive. Self Leadership
2. Our will is what keeps us from being victims of fate. We are able to act and change and redirect our course. It is one of the greatest gifts that we’ve been given. The best way to strengthen your independent will power, is to make and keep promises. Most people don’t want to make promises because they don’t want to keep them. So we live life as moral midgets and spiritual dwarfs because we are not willing to exercise our moral will power.
Intuitively we hesitate to make a promise because of the moral integrity we have we want to keep any promise we make. The solution is not to stop making promises but to rather start making promises and start following through on them. Don’t over promise, don’t under deliver. Allow a sense of honor to grow up inside you. An honor that others will recognize. His word is good.
3. Creative imagination, the ability to create a future in your mind and then pursue it. The ability to have a vision for something for something that doesn’t yet exist. These four traits set us apart from all other creatures.
4. Take enough time to be quiet to listen to our conscience. Holy spirit speaks to you. Train conscience by filling mind with ideas that are valuable -
Phil. 4:8-9 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Take these images and make them part of your life - the compass and the clock
Decide what matters and spend time doing what matters first
If God matters - how will that play out in your life?
