My name is Jinsook Kim and this is my Rule of Life Story.

I have been a Christian for more than 20 years and as soon as I became a Christian, the Word of God became the center of my life.  Since God put a hunger in my heart to know Him and know His Word, I have been studying and devouring the Word of God.  Knowing God became my passion, and I have spent 12 years of my life studying and teaching the Bible.  I loved my job and what I was doing. But in the process, I became too busy in the ministry and I lost balance in my personal and public life.  I was asking God to help me to order my inner self; and that’s when God brought to me the example of Daniel’s life.

Daniel set time apart everyday…3 times a day…to pray and worship God.  Though his life was victorious, mine was not. I was so desperate to know how to order my inner life; then God amazingly connected me to the Pierce Center at Gordon-Conwell. There, I learned to form my personal Rule of Life and balance my personal and public life.

I knew I needed to organize my life. But as a spontaneous person, I was overwhelmed! I am not a scheduled person! So, I prayed to God to help me and God gave me the image of a set of hands. The image of the hands has shaped my RoL. On one hand, I wrote my roles, gifts, desires, vision, and mission. And on another hand I wrote my time, trust, treasure, talent, and priorities.  After that, I wrote how to apply the RoL in my daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal and annual life.  When I was finished, I was so happy and overjoyed by God’s help for my Rule!

I would like to share some elements of my Rule:

Spiritual Priorities – a loving relationship with God is the most important thing in my life.

Rest: I have found out that in order to succeed each day, I need to start with a good night’s sleep.  So, I try to get 8 hours each day.

In the Morning: As soon as I get up, I exercise for 15 minutes and then sing, “In Christ Alone.” I then read a prayer and a poem to center myself in God. I do my daily Bible reading until the Morning Prayer and I try to spend one and half-hours for Bible reading and praying for personal, spiritual growth. When I do that, I feel alive and feel like I am flying in the air.  God gives me refreshment and renewal every morning.

At Lunchtime: I am committed to join in prayer for the nations. Right now, God is teaching me how to pray for the nations and to have the heart of a global Christian.

In the Evening: Around 8:30-10:00 pm, I am reading and praying through the Bible for friends and families.  Praying is a very important part of my time because God is speaking and teaching me personally in prayer.

Weekly – I try to take Sabbath while fasting and praying—a day to focus and refocus on God.

 “The saints who have gone before us left a legacy of experience in living with God.  One learning they pass on to us is the value of fasting as a spiritual discipline.”                              – Reuben P. Job

Monthly – try to read Psalms and Proverb once and reflect upon my journal to check my relationship with God and with people.

Seasonally – try to go to a Soul Sabbath and join Leadership meetings to grow in God.

Annually – try to read the Bible once or twice. “The goal of Bible Study is not for us to get through the Scriptures.  The goal is to get the Scriptures through us.” John Ortberg

Since last year, I have been following my rule of life and has become my habit and happiness.  Wherever I go, I take my 3 pictures of the hands and put them on the wall to remind me to have a loving relationship with God and with people.  Today, I feel, I am full of life and joy because of His amazing presence.

My encouragement for you is that if you believe that God is creative, He will give you wisdom and insight of how to craft your RoL. He is very personal and he created you to be a very unique person…so he will speak to you in a way He can form you.  I pray that God would give you courage and constancy to craft and keep your RoL.  He is able and He will give you far more than you can ask or imagine.