6 Rules for Life-Part 2

Ok-so I did not get back to this very quickly and if I'm being totally honest...pathetically slowly.
I am not making anymore promises but really want to do this more consistently. I think I have to make some choices on what the importance hierarchy is and then adjust. That said, let's get back to rules for life.

Checking in at number 4 on the charts in...LOVE!
Contrary to the Paula Abdul fav, Dance Like There's No Tomorrow...we should actually Love Like There's No Tomorrow. Dancing is fine and fun but it won't actually solve things unless you live in a musical or believe your life is Footloose. I'm not trying to put baby in a corner or keep you kids from dancing but LOVE is the main thing that marks us as a child of God. He said it-I'm just repeating. Love you wife or husband, love your friends, love your kids, love your parents, love your enemies...WHOA! No, I'm not kidding--love your enemies. Show love to anyone and everyone. We aren't to pick and choose in this we are to love everyone as a mark or Christ in us. He loved--he didn't condone every dumb thing someone did but He did love everyone. He came to Earth on a search and rescue mission. He made the choice to come with the sole intent to die for us. That is Crazy Love. Thank God. Remember that love--realize you are full of it if you are a child of God--and love like that.

5. Express: As I have previously expressed I think stream of consciousness very often and have associations. So, as I sit and type this Madonna is screaming "Express yourself" in my head. Do I like Madonna? Not really. Did I live through her wonder years? Yes. Part of the pile of random associations floating in my brain. Anyway, I think a big part of getting the most out of life is expressing your thoughts, emotions, excitement, enthusiasm. Let it out. Don't go anger management on someone but express the good things. Express your love for God. Think about what He has done for you and let it out. You can't tell me that when you spend a minute thinking about how He has made you righteous, paid for your sin, destroyed sickness, and made you His own child you can't be a little amazed. If you haven't I encourage you to think about it. Think about all that is involved in salvation--not just headed for heaven (if that was all that was included it would be awe inspiring) but everything tied in with that word SOZO. Check it out--as you get more and more insight into the depth of His love and goodness to you I believe you will be so grateful that you will want to express you thanks to Him outwardly.

6. Take Time:
This is a great one. Most of the time people seem consumed with making time but the bottom line is we all have 24 hours in a day and we can't make anymore. We can make a thinking adjustment and take time to do the things that are important. I am using this in my own life as I mentioned at the top of the post. There are some things that I am giving my time to that really aren't as important to me as some other things that are getting neglected on some level. So, I will adjust. I will take my time and reallocate it to the things that matter most. Time with my kids matters. Time with my wife matters. Time helping people matters. (This is why I will adjust and do better with my blog) Time with God matters. If you have been struggling with not having the time to do the things you want to do, take time and figure out what really matters the most and realize you have the time. Make the necessary adjustments so that your life is all that God intended it to be.

There we go--6 Rules for Life. Hopefully some of them help you out. It was good for me to sit down and think through some of these things. Good also to narrow down the list. I could have come up with 10 but that's too easy--6 is much harder. Makes you prioritize a little more.

Keep the first things first.