Become Who You Were Created To Be

Divine Design

“You are a masterpiece” Ephesians 2:10. This is the bold declaration of God – about you and me! Yet, as I looked in the mirror today, frankly I don’t feel like a work of art. Mistakes litter my past and my life today is, well, so daily. Thankfully, God remains undaunted in His declaration of ‘masterpiece,’ despite the obvious evidence to the contrary.

In fact, it gets even more exciting as God’s glorious proclamation continues; “He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” Not only has God declared us His work of art, He has prepared good works for each of us to walk in. It’s truly a divine design.

Live Fully

There are four things you and I can do each day to live fully as God’s masterpiece:

Know God – Get to know your Creator, the Master Artist. Learn who He is, what He wants, and how He works. He created you, for Himself. Enjoy the relationship.

Know Yourself – A masterpiece is a singular work of art, not a product of mass production. Your unique expression of God will differ from all those around you. Paul states that you are to, “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that” Galatians 6:4.

Serve Others - Although we live in an upwardly mobile world, Jesus was decidedly downward mobile. He came from heaven to earth, from king to servant, from applause to jeers, from a throne to a grave. More than that, He calls you and I to do likewise.

Shine for His Glory – Romans 11:36 tells us, “…everything is for His glory.” We are not here to build up our own kingdom but God’s. A masterpiece exists to point to the glory of the artist.

Focus on these four areas each day and you will shine more and more as the masterpiece you were created to be.

Live Simply. Love Generously.

Live simply. Love generously. Leave the rest to God. These remarkable summary statements about the Christian life were found in the papers of a martyred African pastor. In life and in death, he lived what he believed.

Simple living allows us to focus on God’s highest priorities and what could be more important than that? As we continue to examine the top ten timesaving tips, this week we discover two practical ways to reduce life’s clutter.

Eliminate Information Overload

We live on information overload. On any single day we are exposed to more than we could conceivably process in any one year. We are overloaded, overwhelmed, and pushed to the brink of breakdown. It is time to clear our minds, silence the sounds, and quarantine our living spaces from the relentless noise of life.

Stop the madness and just say ‘no.’ Try these suggestions:

• The average household has the TV on for 40 hours a week. Turn it off.
• Throw away clear junk mail. Don’t open it or read it – just toss it.
• Lose the guilt. Cancel subscriptions to publications you rarely have time to read.
• Contact the Direct Marketing Association (http://www.the-dma.org/) to get forms to help limit the flow of unwanted mail.
• Block email spammers.
• At home, turn off the cell phone.

Saying ‘no’ to overload allows you to say ‘yes’ to the things you really care about.

Delegate

We hesitate to delegate because we are convinced that alone we can do it faster and better. Admit it, we hate giving up control.

But, in actuality, delegating will save you an enormous amount of time. It will also
motivate others, promote ‘buy-in,’ and encourage cooperation.

Think about your top five time consuming work and personal tasks and dream of what it would be like if you delegated them today. Delegate to a competent employee, hire a personal assistant, or someone to help out at home. And don’t overlook the growing market of US and overseas virtual assistants. For as little as $4.00 an hour, you could cut your work load and your stress in half.

“Nothing is impossible if you can delegate.”
Unknown

Live simply. Love generously. Leave the rest to God.

Wise Timesaving Choices

We live in a world full of choices. We can stay or go, eat or fast, indulge or save. How do we know what to do? It’s hard to live a daily targeted life of impact when we don’t even know what to have for dinner.

Jesus did it this way, “He rose and went out to a lonely place, and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35). This is the secret of His life and work – He prayerfully waited for the Father’s instructions and did only what the Father told Him to do.

This week we continue with two more timesaving tips so that we can use time in the service of God’s kingdom and His will.

80/20 Rule

Over 100 years ago, an economist named Vilfredo Pareto discovered a little known law of income distribution which today bears his name, “Pareto’s Law” or what we call the 80/20 principle. What he found was that 80% of the wealth was produced by 20% of the population and more than that, this same principle could be applied almost everywhere.

80% of the consequences flow from 20% of the causes.
80% of the results come from 20% of your effort and time.

80/20 is a powerful principle. Focus on your most effective activities and you may cut your time in half while doubling your results.

Chunk

Chunking is the act of grouping like activities together and performing them all at the same time. It just makes sense.

There is an inescapable set-up time for almost all tasks large or small. Whether you need to gather your thoughts to write that important report, or collect materials to pay the bills – the set-up time is often the same for one as it is for a hundred.

In the book, The Cost of Not Paying Attention, research revealed that there is a 28% time loss when we break up activities. It pays to chunk.

Take regular tasks – answering email, returning phone calls, entering expenses, logging billable hours, etc. and set aside just one period of time to do the whole batch or chunk.

If you make $20 an hour and eliminate the 28% time loss by chunking activities, you will save your company $800.00 a month and free up 10 hours a week!

This week focus on your most profitable tasks, eliminate the ineffective, and group the rest. Your exponential increased impact on the world will make it worth your while.

Timesaving is Lifesaving

Timesaving is life saving, because it will not only increase the quanity of time in your day but add to the quality of time in your life. Proverbs 21: 5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty.”

• What hopes, dreams, and plans have you pushed aside because busyness rules the day?
• What lifelong dreams could you fulfill if you discovered an extra two hours every day?

For the next few weeks, we will examine the top ten timesaving tips so that you can discover how to use time as your ultimate tool to living well.

First Things First

Research shows most people spend the first three hours of every work day doing small, necessary, but relatively mindless things. Counter intuitively, the most foundational principle of time management is to do, First Things First.

When you are fresh, begin with the most important one or two things BEFORE you even check your email.

• At work, do the most difficult task with the highest payoff.
• At home, work on the task you like least and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
• In your meetings, address the most important topic at the top before people begin to file out.

You will accomplish more, enjoy the whole day, do better work, have more confidence, and feel great.

Limit Interruptions

Interruptions are damaging to your productivity. Every time you allow an interruption in your work, it costs you six minutes in addition to the time actually spent. Thus, if you have just three 10-minute unexpected conversations in one morning, you will lose 48 minutes!

Take these steps during your First Things First time each morning:

• Spend time with God first.
• Eliminate audible distractions such as the phone and email alert.
• Don’t socialize until later in the day.
• Turn off your computer monitor.

Continue to follow our Top Ten Timesaving Tips because as Charles Hummel says, “Nothing substitutes for knowing that this day, this hour, in this place we are doing the will of the Father.”

Simplify! Rest

Missed work, memory loss, car accidents, and coronary heart disease, these are just a few of the documented side effects of rest deprivation. And I feel it, don’t you? We are a society on the go. From the moment our feet touch the floor in the morning, until our minds finally stop their helicopter whirling at night, we don’t rest.

The underlying assumption we make is that because we have people to meet and places to go, intense effort and a relentless focus are our choice companions. But in doing that, we often leave our health and our God behind us in the dust.

God entices us with an entirely different tune than this world’s siren song. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10.) Be still. Return, reconnect, reinvigorate, recreate, know, and trust your God. All else will follow.

Rest

Answer this question: How does my ‘running on empty’ actually detract from what I am trying to accomplish?

A recent Obstacles to Growth Survey reports that among Christians, “Six out of ten women say they ‘sometimes,’ ‘often,’ or ‘always’ feel guilty when they relax.”

Surprisingly, this current epidemic of busyness has less to do with what we have to do then our understanding of who is responsible for doing it. In Isaiah 46:10 God says, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.' God never wearies yet He designed us to need rest. Relax and enjoy.

It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
Psalm 127:2

Action Step: Decide today to rest physically from all your routine ‘doings’ one full day a week. Mark off this day on your calendar for the next 52 weeks. Keep this time of rest sacred. It is.

Be sure to comment and to let me know how that day of rest made a difference in your week.