Things I wouldn’t do if I knew I was about to die…
Go to work.
Save money.
Diet.
Pay off debt.
He said, “I was in my early 40s,
With a lot of life before me,
And a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
I spent most of the next days
Lookin’ at the X-rays,
Talkin’ ‘bout the options
And talkin’ ‘bout sweet time.”
I asked him, “When it sank in that this might really be the real end,
How’s it hit you, when you get that kind of news?”
Man what’d you do?”
And he said,
“I went sky divin’,
I went rocky mountain climbin’,
Hit the bucket list!
All the things I plan to do, but never made time for.
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu.
Unless the doctor tells you, you only have 2.7 seconds left to live! …Do not get on the back of the bull by any name.
From this point in…
Intentionality - the quality of mental states (e.g., thoughts, beliefs, desires, hopes) that consists in their being directed toward some object or state of affairs.
Don’t just let life happen to you…
Being fully present -You’re focused and engaged in the here and now, not distracted or mentally absent.
And I loved deeper,
What is shallow love?
What does it mean to love deeply?
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
John 13:34-35 ‘A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.’
John 13:1 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.
And I spoke sweeter
Let my words be sweet and gentle, because tomorrow I may have to eat them.
James 3:1-8 Those who are never at fault in what they say are perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal… Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body… All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by human beings, but no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison… With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Proverbs 16:24 Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Colossians 3:8 You must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
GodWhy Vision - True respect for ALL…
Both external and internal.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Between our ears… thinking drives perception.
Become courteous, not judgmental. Not “how can they be so stupid?” But “I wonder why they see things the way they do?”
Proverbs 18:21 The tongue has the power of life and death
And I gave forgiveness I’d been denying.”
Look at last week…
** Forgiveness isn’t always about getting something back… It’s about making something right in our hearts and spirit. It’s about being made whole again.
Luke 17:3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
We do this with our children all the time!
Here’s a possibility…
Let forgiveness start in my head and progress to my heart, before it comes out of my mouth and into the relationship.
And he said, “Someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dying.”
RELATIONSHIPS CHANGE…
He said, “I was finally the husband (partner)
That most the time I wasn’t,
Being fully present
ME… “Let me finish this so… I can give you my semi-divided attention”
Taking a partner granted
(She blesses me!! …Way more than she frustrates me)
Gratitude journal - Then SAY IT
And I became a friend a friend would like to have.
Became…. A friend
Jesus - Crowds, 12, 3 (Peter, James, and John)
Proverbs 18:24 A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
And all of a sudden goin’ fishing
Wasn’t such an imposition.
And I went three times that year I lost my dad.
“People over pleasure”
Well I finally read the good book,
And I took a good long hard look
At what I’d do if I could do it all again.
Spiritual encounters
And then… (Course again)
And he said, “Someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dying.”
Like tomorrow was a gift
Video - $1 million or tomorrow (2.24 min)
And you’ve got eternity
To think about what you’d do with it,
What did you do with it?
What can I do with it?
What would I do with it?