“This is your life. Are you who you want to be?” — Switchfoot

“You shall love your neighbor AS YOURSELF.” (Mark 12:31)

How would you rate your health in each of these four areas — spiritual, physical, emotional, relational — from 1 (terrible) to 10 (fantasic)?

Today is Day 5 in our 30 days series titled “One Month To Live,” based on Kerry and Chris Shook’s book by that same title. “One Month To Live empowers you to focus on being who God created you to be – passionate, fully alive, living without regrets.”

If you’ve flown before on a commercial airline, you probably are familiar with this routine airline safety announcement, “In the event that our cabin pressure should change, an oxygen mask will be released from the overhead compartment. Please place the oxygen mask on yourself first before helping small children or others who may need assistance.”

While it may seem obvious that you can’t help anyone if you have passed out from lack of oxygen yourself, I’ve been guilty over the past few years of putting the oxygen mask on many others without taking in enough oxygen myself.

I confess that I have grossly undervalued my time and made poor choices that have allowed numerous Christians and Christian organizations to soak up my time and financial resources to the point where my income and business has become cachectic. Julia and I have sown every last penny we own into God’s Kingdom work.

We’ve reached the point where we must be STRATEGIC in business and ministry. We can no longer afford to offer free services to any businesses or organizations.

It’s not that we don’t care. We simply don’t have any more money or time to give away.

Here are some excerpts from Chapter 5 of Kerry and Chris’ book.

Jesus indicates that before we can really love others and make a difference in their lives, we have to first love ourselves. You have to first take time to get healthy so you can impact the world around you.

Get Physical: Whether you have thirty days or thirty years left, you should realize that how you treat your body has a direct and lasting impact on the quality of life you enjoy. Our bodies require sleep, exercise, clean air, water, and quality nourishment. To be healthy physically, we must be healthy spiritually and listen to what God says about our bodies. Check out the daily exercise and diet plan at www.OneMonthToLive.com.

How Do You Feel: The next crucial area where we must breathe first is in our emotional lives. So many people function according to how they feel. A huge part of maturing, of growing up, is learning to acknowledge and experience our emotions without being controlled by them. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and of love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7, RSV).

Relationally Connected: The whole reason we put the oxygen mask on ourselves first is so we can breathe in and get healthy and help someone find God’s oxygen. Breathing first is not selfish. It’s essential.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, forgive me for putting the oxygen mask on many others while neglecting myself. Thank You for your wake up call. I finally get it. May I never forget this life lesson. May many others benefit from the hard lesson I have learned. Thank You Jesus. Amen and hallelujah!

Blessings of the Day
1) Make It Last For Life – 3 simple action steps to apply today’s message [see below]

2) UNCOMMON Wellness Coaching course A Hope Filled Future” free webinar with guest panelist Shelley Grieser
Category: Coaching
Date/Time: Tuesday May 5, 2009, 11 am EDT
Your marriage may have ended, but your life is not over!

3) “A Hope Filled Future” free webinar with guest panelist Shelley Grieser
Category: Coaching
Date/Time: Tuesday May 5, 2009, 11 am EDT
Your marriage may have ended, but your life is not over!

4) “The Crisis Of Belief” free webinar with guest panelist Rev. Nasir Iqbal
Subtitle: Experiencing God Through Journaling (EGTJ) – Week 7
Date/Time: Tuesday May 5, 2009, 8 pm EST
Rev. Nasir Iqbal is a Palelstinian with an amazing story of salvation and miraculous healing from coma, near-death, and paralysis after beign robbed and beaten over the head with a metal rod.

5) The Grand Opening Of The Journaling Cafe
Date/Time: Thursday May 7, 2009, 3 pm EST
Finally! Finally! Finally! The Journaling Cafe is opening. Jesus has taught me how to hear His voice through two-way journaling and now He’s inviting YOU to learn too. But not only that, the LORD is inviting to be part of this world-wide journaling community.

“If we don’t act on a good idea within 24 hours, we are less than 50% likely to ever act on it. If we haven’t acted on it inside of days, then we are less than 2% likely to ever act on it.” – Bill Gates

Blessings to put the oxygen mask on yourself first!

P.S. At the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders in the U.K. earlier this year, the primary word received was “no more business as usual.”

Zec 4:6 So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts.

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Make It Last For Life – 3 simple action steps to apply today’s message

1) How would you rate your health in each of these four areas — spiritual, physical, emotional, relational — from 1 (terrible) to 10 (fantasic)? What’s the greatest challenge to improving your health in these areas? What can you do to work through this challenge?

2) Spend time journaling about a specific goal for each of these four areas that you can pursue during the rest of this month. Make sure the goals are practicle and measurable.

3) Connect daily to www.OneMonthToLive.com and spend fifteen to thirty mintues working on your spiritual, physical, emotional, and relational health.