Let's Get Real

“I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.”

John 14:7

Let’s Get Real

How have you been doing with creating margin in your life? What kind of habits do you have?

Do you have margin in your life for the most important things OR are you running from one activity to another and succumbing to the “Tyranny of the Urgent”?

Have you developed God-honoring habits OR are you submitting to life-sucking idols that are stealing your joy and peace?

Challenge Not Guilt

My purpose in today’s Friday Flashback is not to fill you with guilt. It is only to help you remember the challenges from your MD5 experience, so that you will receive the abundant blessings of the fruit of the spirit that the Holy Spirit develops in you as you grow in Jesus.

James 1:22-27 talks about using scripture as a “mirror” and it warns us that if we don’t do what it shows us to do then we will forget what we look like. In other words, we will not remember who we are in Jesus.

So, this is my purpose today. To challenge you to remember who God made you to be.

Margin is For Our Good

In all of the grace God has for our lives, He has created the concept of margin not only for His glory but also for our good!

Andy Stanley tells us that without margin we suffer in 3 ways:

1. Stress levels go up

2. Our focus narrows (selfishness)

3. Relationships suffer

All of these things are bad, but the worst symptom of margin-less living is when it affects our relationships. Our relationship with Jesus, our family and our friends, in this order.

Why? Because God created us to love Him and love others. This is our purpose!

Habits Lead to Margin

So, to make room in our lives for our relationships to thrive we need consistent habits that will help this get done. In other words, we need a plan.

This is great news because you already have one, your MD5 life plan! But, men, you have to use it!

Your life plan was designed to help you create margin and develop habits that will set you free because of what Jesus has done for you.

This is our motivation for margin and great habits!

Who Are You?

Craig Groeschel says, “A healthy identity creates positive habits. Positive habits reinforce a healthy identity.”

So, Paul tells us who we are in Romans 6:6-7 “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.” We are a FREE child of God!

Execute Your Life Plan

Review your life plan on a regular basis and develop your daily habits from your short-term and long-term goals.

Remember, make your daily goals measurable and start small and build monthly. It takes 30-40 days to develop a new habit so the idea is that each month you can take another step further.

The Goal

So, who do you want to become? Is it still the same person as when you went through MD5 and created your life plan?

Just as Jesus said, “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.” (John 14:7) I pray that we can all say this at the end of our earthly lives, too.

Written by Ryan Johnson

MD5 Facilitator