BALANCE

One of the feedbacks I’ve been getting consistently over the last years from those I disciple or people who have a close look into my life in general is that they say I’m very balanced; I heard that so often that I decided to write down some of my thoughts on this..
In myself I’m probably one of the weakest persons I’ve ever met and I discovered early on that I can make choices on how to structure my life and so on.
I believe in being radical in the heart, but balanced in your life.

I don’t like extreme in any form; I don’t like legalism and I don’t like extreme grace. I want to live and preach right in the middle of what the Bible says. I’m a faith-guy, but I don’t even like extreme faith either. Faith is of the heart, it’s very relational, so you just keep your heart soft before the Lord and faith will come. I operate in the supernatural power of God on a consistent basis - yes but thats not extreme, it should be normal. Yet it’s also simply a gift I have received, so there is no room for boasting except in Him. So, just because someone has radical convictions, doesn’t mean he or she is extreme. Convictions stem from the heart, but one of the definitions of extreme is “furthest from the centre or a given point” - don’t get extreme in your Christian walk because you might get extremely away from Jesus

I do believe in living with conviction and purpose... and part of that is living balanced.
The reality is I have so much energy I wouldn’t know where to put it, i have no idea how people get bored or depressed in this life, so I direct it towards God, meaningful relationships and habits that bring balance to my life.
It is true that I push myself hard but for me it’s not how I look or how strong I am, God told me I should exercise and excel in it, but to never allow for it to become an idol.
I saw this in my mentor many years ago who went for a run almost every day early in the morning and was always happy.
One of the great dangers I see among many young Christians (and certainly not only in the young ones) in this generation is that many have boldness without discipline, which really is just sloppy pride. They are very confident but it’s more a confidence in the flesh but they have a weak mental frame.

I don’t want to sound like an old man giving lots of advice so all I ever try to do is lead by example; once you’ve overcome this and you’ve overcome that - you simply find new things to overcome.. you master yourself by the power of the Holy Spirit and smash every challenge and (not-God-ordained) limitation (because there are God-ordained ones too), you put those things out, you put those things in and you create the live which makes it just easier - to win as many people as possible to Jesus in your life time; this is why I have ó νικάω tattoed inside my arm which means “the one who conquers” - because that is who I am. I resonate a bit with Bruce Willis in Die Hard who seemed to somehow like it when the odds where against him. While I don’t seek it, I don’t mind a good fight and soul winning is the uppercut that will get the enemy on the floor quickly and knock him out

If I’m going to be preaching Jesus for at least 6-7 more decades, I don’t want to be a fat preacher one day who can barely breath, sorry if this offends you but we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
I do miracle crusades, I preach in stadiums, we go into the nations and shift gears releasing Holy Ghost power, release the word of the Lord we work miracles - but I get over those things quickly, because I can’t dwell on that for too long, if you do - this is when ministers begin to minister out of their memory and share only stories of what they have experienced in the past but lose sight of the current workings of the Holy Spirit which is a scary place; I wanna flow in the Holy Ghost period...

And I won’t go crazy on you on how to eat and so on, and I’m not a nutrition or diet freak and as long as you are not a vegetarian and go crazy on me with your salads ???? ???? you are just fine ????), you do what you feel is right for you and what your conscience tells you because there is no law, but make sure you have balance in your life.

I honestly believe having balance is one of the main reasons why I burn more for Jesus NOW than I did 10 years ago and the reason I share all this is because there is strength and power found in balance.
I knew I’m going to be a leader, and a leader number 1 cares for people number 2 is disciplined and number 3 has balance in his life (and no, this doesn’t come from a book — please please throw 50% of all the leadership books in the church out of the window, it has cost us revival)

We are out in the fight and we will win the crown ????????

Philipp J. Schmerold, Global Kingdom Mission