“A man got to have a code…” – Omar

Intentionally or not we all have a code… A rule of life… something our lives center around… that informs and drives our entire life…

These are many of the idea’s that drive people, and these motives are not the exclusive territory of the unbeliever…

Sensuality…
• This craving to fulfill all our senses… sex is the easy target… But for the believer that may have self-control here, maybe it’s an unhealthy emotionalism, and instead of being grounded in truth, our feels drive the bus of our lives…
• We’re always on a roller-coaster, looking for our next ‘spiritual’ feel good… Ephesians 4:14-15

Comfort…
• For those outside of Christ, the idea of becoming a believer, and Jesus actually being Lord of our lives, and the changes that Jesus requires are just too much… so comfort keeps us from giving our lives to Jesus…
• For the believer… it’s the same thing, God’s calling us to deeper waters, and we don’t want to move out of our comfort zones…
• Remember the rich young ruler… Luke 18:22-23

Desire to please others and be accepted…
• The thought of being unliked strikes fear in us, or unliked by those we value… we get into a dangerous habit of trying to win and merit friendship back and we become controlled by trying to please others…
• Believer or not, this can become the driver of our lives… we compromise truth… abusive relationships… drugs… illegal thing… etc… Proverbs 29:25

A desire to be heard and known…
• We live is such a loud world, everyone is shouting over each other to be heard, to be known… Conversations (just have to be heard, very little listening)…
• The question I believe we must ask ourselves is why must “I” be heard, why must “I” be known… John 3:30
• John’s concerns we’re not that his own ideas or name would be known… it was that the name of Christ would be known… Jesus’ only concern was to do and speak the will of the Father… He said He spoke “nothing of Himself”…
• On a personal level, when I sense myself fighting to get into a conversation… I have to ask myself, why do I want to share what I want to share… is it about myself, or is it (in an edifying way) serving the conversation and the person I’m talking to… more often than not, it’s about myself, and I just need to remain silent and truly listen… I am not perfect in this…
• The world cannot listen to us enough to meet that desire, it’s a bottomless pit… we must learn to center ourselves around simply being heard and known by our God, and in this contentment, let Him give you the audiences He desires for you…

This is not an exhaustive list, but just the point… what is our code? What is driving our lives?
• Believers are called to order our entire lives in such a way that the love of Christ comes before all else… Christ and his love must become our driver, our code…
• Lives of this quality transform families, friends, coworkers and communities…

This doesn’t just happen. We have to be intentional about the order of our lives… that this would be a reality… Very few people have a conscious plan for developing this code… it’s so easy for our spiritual lives to become autopilot… we have to go deeper than church attendance, and a little bit of prayer and Bible reading every once in a while…

Being intentional with developing our code takes time… Give yourself grace and time to see what best works for you… Add things that connect with you and delete things that don’t (with exceptions)… don’t quit something just because it challenges you… don’t think just because you enjoy something that it cannot be a part of these disciplines…
• Ask the Holy Spirit to examine your life, and allow you to notice those areas that need the most immediate work…
• Try to tackle only one or two of these aspects for your first few months… as you grow add more… Take it at the pace that the Spirit would direct you…

Prayer
• Scripture… The goal is not punching a clock, or earning a merit badge, it’s about communion with God… there is no one way to eat this elephant.
• Silence and Solitude… find a quiet place, and just listen to God…
• Pray in the Spirit… 10 to 15 minutes a day…
• Appointment… 3 times a day; morning, midday {in car}, night
• Study… never stop learning…
Rest
• Sabbath… we need a day of rest… the four characteristics of biblical sabbaths- stop, rest, delight, contemplate…
• Simplicity… remove distractions, and be free from attachments…
• Play… engage in good, healthy, lifegiving experiences… it’s okay to have fun…
Work/Activity
• Service and Mission… find those things that God is calling you to do…
• Care for the physical body… your body is the temple of God… exercise, diet, sleep…
Relationships
• Emotional health… pay attention to your feelings, see what God is telling you in them…
• Family… what would you like those relationships to look like… then prayerfully, how do you think you can get there?
• Community (companions for the journey)

In these elements of prayer, rest, work/activity, and community… the code of your life will transform… as Christ and His love touches more than just our Sunday Morning experience…

The emotionally healthy believer is one who’s life…
• Is truly known by themselves…
• Is one that handles conflict well…
• Is one that’s actions bear out the belief that all of humanity bears the image of God…
• Is one that has a code that is focused on Christ and His love…
• and Is one who know how to feel/think/act in an orderly way…

So what is our code? We all gotta have one!
• It could be anyone of a thousand alternatives… or our code, our rule of life, is that all we do would focus on Christ and His love…”

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