Grace Wins

2015.10.23: Grace Wins

12:27am – 12:43am

This six hour schedule is nice.  It allows me to balance the stress of work.  However, I do get one less 15-minute break, which stinks.  I do, however, get a 30-minute lunch instead of a 60-minute one. 

My supervisor today still thought I worked the nine hour shift, lol.  But he quickly corrected himself.  I have a feeling he won’t make the same mistake again.

I have worked full-time for about a month now and it is just too stressful for me, so I opted for 6-hours instead.  6 hours is still tough, it is no piece of cake, especially with customers who want to take cakes from you. 

But, praise God, I am able to deescalate customer’s calls thanks to God’s power.  I was going to just say “power” but where does power come from?  It comes from God. 

I told myself to write every day, to keep a journal daily.  This is my attempt.  In a way, it is easier since I already got into the practice of writing.  But, the more I write, heh, at least for now, the less I will share.

Or maybe I’ll share it later, sometime later in my life.  When I look back at my life, at my diaries, at my journals, at my discoveries, perhaps I can achieve something. 

------------------------------------------------------------  To have intimacy without shame.  I write that, but what does “intimacy without shame” mean?  I guess I want intimacy without fear.  I want intimacy with security, with peace, with love.  Right now, I can only say it seems.  Every negative thing I see in my life will be “it seems,” but every positive thing will be a certainty.  It seems my life is a failure but God has a hope and a future for me. 

I am going back to school.  I must always move up and not be stuck at where I’m at.  I must always try to reach my potential.  With God, who is stronger than people, I will achieve it. 

Many times in my life these days, I feel like I’m getting reports from the twelve tribes of Israel.  When Joshua sent twelve spies each from the twelve tribes of Israel, ten gave a negative report while only two gave a positive one.  And what does the people believe?  They believed in the negative one.  I feel my life is similar.  Ten of my spies give me negative reports.  They tell me life is too hard, that I’m not going to make it, that I will get hurt, that I shouldn’t be too trusting and loving and forgiving.  However, the two spies in my life tells me that as long as I trust in God, He will take care of me.  That with God all things are possible.  That all things are possible through God who strengthens me.  That God has a plan and a future and a purpose for me.  That God still loves me.  That grace wins in the end. 

I love Matthew West’s song “Grace Wins.”  That song tells me that grace and guilt are battling in my mind but grace will win in the end. 

There’s a war between

Guilt and Grace

And it’s fighting for

A sacred space

But I’m living proof

Grace wins every time

I need to pray and pray and pray for others and pray for people and pray for myself.  I am still in my 30-day relentless for God.

Ok, I don’t want to write too much.  I need to sleep now.  The exception is if I choose to seek God.  Either worship or pray or read for God.  For God.  Only God.  He is my exception. 

God, I have so much stress in my life, but please guide me and help me.  I’m… I need your help.  The only comfort, the only victory I get, is when I spend time with God. 

Grace for Rest

2015.10.21: Grace for Rest

2:21am – 2:31am

Blessings to God.  He gave me grace today.  Right now, I’m also listening to Christian music.  Music from before the Army.  Music from during the Army.  And music from after the Army.  Music from Ignite.  So many musical influences in my life. 

I asked for a lighter burden because I cannot handle the stress.  I was almost close to quitting.  To resigning.  That call center job, it’s just too difficult and stressful for me.  But, I was able, with God, no, with God I was able, more credit to God and less to me, to still have that job.  My plan now is to continue to go to college and earn my second degree in computer science.  I must never stop growing.  I must never stop striving.  I don’t care about my circumstances.  God will find a way. 

But even with the lighter load, it wasn’t as light as I expected.  I wanted only 4 hours a day for work but instead, I got 6.  I wanted Wednesdays off but instead, I have to wait for at least a few weeks before I will be able to change my schedule to having Wednesdays and Saturdays off, working from 2-8pm.  This is good news.  I will be able to attend both Sundays and Wednesdays supernatural services.  The only thing is I won’t be able to attend the HOP and the Fridays youth service.  I also enjoy having the two days off spaced.  Having them together limits the therapeutic healing for me. 

So, to write every day like my aunt suggested, this is my entry for today. 

I must still seek God and follow my “experiment.”  Three strikes and I haven’t messed up yet.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------  But, I have been spending time in the “gray areas”.  I have been spending time on politics and about Russia, China, and the United States military-wise.  Why do I waste so much time on those things?  I should just seek God.  God will take care of China, Russia, and the United States.  And Israel. 

Thank you God.  

The Experiment

[Edited for Public] 2015.10.19: The Experiment

11:48pm – 12:16pm

My aunt told me that I should write a journal daily, so here it is.  Maybe I should write daily now.  I mean I used to write a lot but not anymore.  Not when.. my faith became weak.  Not when trails and tribulations ceased a little.  I mean my difficulties still persist.  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Nothing in this world can truly satisfy me.  -----------------  -------------------------------------------------------------------  Then what is God’s will for my life?  Is it to have customers yelling at me and hating me everyday?  Is that what my life is for?  My aunt told me I should find a happy job.  A job that makes me happy.  Not a job where I deal with sadness and gloom.  Where the best I can do is a draw.  No, a draw is not a win.  A draw, where I only have one life, one chance, is a lose.  Maybe I should quit my job so I can continue to further my education.  I mean, if I can’t make lots of money, then I should at least have lots of education and knowledge.  No, well, kind of true.  I should just focus on seeking God.  But I suck at it.  I feel I just can’t do it.  I could be close, I can see it.  I can see myself seeking God and being close to Him but I just can’t reach it.  This is what I should do.  Maybe I should just quit everything that is not necessary and just seek God.  I wonder what may happen if I do it. 

My strategy, my plan against customers, or rather to defend myself against them is to pray for them.  Prayer is the artillery.  Then, I’ll just do what I can do to prepare myself.  The horse is ready for battle.  Then, the battle will belong to the Lord.  What can I do then, with customers who are still mean to me?  Should I take revenge?  No, rather, I should use that as a motivation, a boost, to seek God more. 

My life has changed, not for the better, I feel, but for the worse.  How worse?  I’m not sure.  I crave chicken nuggets, cheese cake, pizza, and what not.  But, these things, in the end, won’t really satisfy me.  I feel stuck.  I feel like I lost.  If I’m not going anywhere then I’m wasting time.  I don’t want to just make this moderate or low income job and save my money until I die.  My life is meant for greatness but I feel my life is nothing at all.  I carry no influence.  I have no authority.  I have no power.  And I seek God.  The logical conclusion then, is to conclude that seeking God has no power, has no hope.  But no, God is the God of hope.  Then why then am I still so powerless?  No, forget it.  I already chose God and I will die with God, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Regardless, I must pray.  Prayer is where I get most of my power from.  I find in my life that I get most of my influence in prayer, behind the scenes.  Without prayer, if it is just people, then I am nothing.  Why can’t I be a general?  What can’t God make me a ruler or a leader or a king?  Or a general, or a trusted advisor.  Why can’t God make me become these things?  Why am I just a nobody working at a low-paying job barely getting by?  -------------------------------------------------------------------- because I have foresight.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------And God will be the judge.

----------------------------------------------------------------------  He is the only reason.  I could care less if other people are less than me.  No, I will not compare myself to who is less but to who is greater.  But of course, I will submit to God.  The only thing that keeps me going is my ability to pray and be close to God.  ---------------------------------------------- 

I don’t have a girlfriend --------------------------------  I don’t have any social networks of significant extent.  ------------------ 

My life, it is so unfair.  I know, other people are going to attack me on this.  Call me complaining.  But look, I really never had a chance in life.  When I was 18, I still had the mentality and life-skills of a 13 year-old.  So many basic skills in life I couldn’t do.  ---------------------------------------------  Values and traits and social skills that I lack.  And now, I am semi-independent.  I say semi because I probably will never be fully independent.  I will never be able to live without God.  Even now, when I have my own room, my own car, my own blah blah blah, I am still not completely independent.  I am much more independent than in the past, but I’m not there yet. 

What can I hope for?  What can I look forward to?  The only thing I can look forward to is God.  Is prayer.  But perhaps prayer is like social work.  Anybody can do it.  You don’t need a degree for that.  You may not need a degree, but you still need God.  And his gift, and his mercy, and his talent.  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This is what I’m going to do from now on.  And I must do it.  Aside from Clash of Clans, which is a game I still can’t quit even though I just started like two months ago. I will seek God.  Any other unnecessary thing will be destroyed.  I’m going to try this experiment for a month, to 11/20/2015 and see if it works.  Let me test and see that the Lord is good.  That he will take care of me.  This will be my vow ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Should I do this?  Yes.  No.  Maybe so.  I want to do it, but I feel I just can’t.  Fine, I’ll give myself three chances.  Three strikes.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Then, should I do this?  What about China?  Who cares about China.  That is just a game.  And my life is not a game. 

How can I relieve stress?  How can I talk to customers?  I don’t.  I don’t know.  I’m still confused and like a child.  I’m just going to pray and seek God.  --------------------------------------------------  I’m doing a 30-day relentless.  Anything unnecessary must be cast aside and just enjoy the pleasure of seeking God.  I’m going to start right now and see how far three strikes will get me.  This will not be a vow but an experiment.  --------------------------------------------------------  May God be my judge.  May God be with me. 

10/10/2015: Accident / My Call Center Experience I

10/10/2015: Accident / My Call Center Experience I

2:16am – 2:57am

It’s late now and I just off work.  Part of me wants to write this but another part of me just wants to play games and sleep.  God has grace for all.

Today, when I was driving back home on I-10, when I almost reached home, I saw police lights flashing and red lights everywhere.  Normally, there will be police lights in that area because the other side of the highway is under innovation.  But as I drove closer, I see that something is wrong.  There are lights, more lights, on my side of the highway as well.  As I got closer, the lanes on the highway started to be disappear, blocked by lights on the ground, until only the exit is available.  Then I smelled a smell of metal and possibly flesh.  As I reached the exit ramp, I saw the accident.  Two cars, totaled.  The car on the back was heavily damaged, with the front heavily bend and the windshield white.  As I was looking, I was thinking whether anyone driving or in the seats would survive.  The car in the back, I thought had a chance, but whoever should survive that would be critically hurt.  The car in the front, it was catastrophic.  The whole front is caved in.  The windshield is even more damaged then the one in the front.  Both cars are on the side of the highway.  In my analysis, looking at the damage, my guess is that the driver in the rear collided into the driver in the front.  The driver in the front lost control and crashed to the side at an even faster speed.  The driver in the front, I reasoned, probably had no chance of surviving.  When I saw it, I covered my face with my hands. 

Why is this incident so important?  I think it is because of my situation and how it touched me.  I found a job at a call center helping people resolve video and internet issues.  I went from spending most of my time alone to talking to people more than eight hours a day.  What a shift.  But, as I talk to people, as I talk to total strangers, I begin, at least unconsciously, to care for them.  For me, I get nervous every time I pick up a call.  The beginning is the worse.  I don’t know who that other person is, whether they will be nice or mean, or super-mean.  But, I can clearly say for everyone I talk to, I want the best for them. 

Today, I have been touched by the modem hymn “Grace For All” by Holly Starr.  This song, or should I say, many of her songs, somehow stuck to me.  Her songs, like Kari Jobe, helped me to live and to be closer to God. 

Before this call center experience, I would care less for people.  If see an accident, I would say a quick prayer and move on.  I could care less about what happens to strangers.  Well, in a way, I do care, with social work, but now, it is at a different level.  Talking to strangers, helping them, has helped me to become even more sensitive. 

Peace is to prepare for war.  The three things that matter in this world is power, love, and wisdom.  Sorry, I just want to say those things.  When I talk to people on the phone, I always remember and try to have power and love.  Where does power and love come from?  It comes from God.  Yes, they tell me to be confident.  But that falls on hollow ears.  I can’t just be confident.  Not by my own strength.  I become confident when I am filled with God’s power. 

I have only been working at the call center for about two months now and I have been learning so much about not just the technical aspect but on the experience.  For me, when I talk to the customers, I always try to ask how they are doing, hobbies; I share about myself, my military experience, and how God helped me, while keeping on track with technical issues.  I don’t like to just keep customers on a silent hold and have no talk except what is necessary. 

I do believe everyone should at least have some call center experience.  Then they will know what talking on the phone with total strangers who is mostly frustrated is like. 

Who knows, the person I talk to, or try to help, or promised to call back on, can be in that accident.  And I see me going into that call center job as an accident.  I never planned this.  I just saw this job posting on craigslist and I decided to give it a try. 

The company I am working with has decided to give all the agents a raise.  I am happy.  It feels like a blessing from God. 

I can share many experiences I had with customers, both good and bad.  When talking to people, I miss the face-to-face experience.  It’s more difficult to establish good rapport when strangers can’t even see you.  And I also stutter, with an Asian ascent, but, I am still doing OK.  With God, I’ll do OK. 

And the quote, “Focus on what you can do and you will be able to do what you can’t” also helped.  What I can do is pray.  What I can do is to worship and to spend time with God.  What I can do….  And what I can’t do are my goals, heh, with God.

Working at the call center has been very stressful, and the night shift is, by now, not what I wanted.  I initially chose to work nights because I am a night person.  But, I am missing out so much on my supernatural church.  I don’t know what I was thinking when my trainer called me into their office to pick a schedule.  I had a morning choice with Wednesdays off, I think.  But, God will give me grace.  I did try to request a change in my schedule and my supervisor is supportive of me.  And, many times after a call, I have to give myself a break.  I just can’t go from people to people, stranger to stranger.  It’s draining and I have to quickly recharge myself for the next hit. 

It’s late now, I got off at 1:10am today and played ping-pong with my co-workers.  You know, I haven’t played ping-pong for probably like 10 years but I played well.  I told them it’s because I used to play tennis back in high school.  :p 

I want to share this song or hymn that helped me recently.

To Rent or Buy: A Comprehensive Report and Analysis

2015.9.26: To Rent or Buy: A Comprehensive Report and Analysis

S: 12:30pm – 1:44pm +30 minutes for map

Location:

Location, location, location.  If I choose the wrong location, then all the other factors are mostly meaningless.  I want a location that is convenient for three of my major activities: worshipping, working, and shopping.  Since I have a bias on God, I placed more value on the location of my church, followed by my workplace, and finally, where I shop.  The squares are the ideal zones I am considering.  

To Buy:

+ Supernatural Church

            The church I go to is a very special church; It is an end-time, supernatural church.  I thought about moving out of El Paso but my mentor told me that since we are living in the end-times, we need to attend a supernatural church, which I agree.

+ Can form a HOP

            In addition to my church, by buying, I may even be able to form my own House of Peace or HOP. 

+ Can earn additional income by renting to others / help others by giving them shelter

            Please also read “Paying interest if I buy” note.  If I do this right, I can have renters in my house which can help me pay for my mortgage.  Additionally, I might be able to invite them to my church.  Also, and I had this idea since high school, one way I was thinking about helping the homeless is not just by giving them money or giving them a fish, but by housing them, taking care of them, and developing them so they can become self-sufficient.  The idealist side of me.  It’s far-fetched, but still possible.

+ Home ownership

            Owning a home makes me feel good.  I can have more freedom to do what I want with it, I do have big plans for my future house.  For one, I can plant fruit trees, just like what my dad did at his house in Los Angeles.  Also, I realize that any money I put in, whether though mortgage or improvements, goes to my house.  Of course, mortgage is more important and I will focus on that first.  I am also even thinking about dedicating a room just for God, like a temple in the old times.

+ VA Home loan advantage

            Can buy at zero-down, preferred rates

To Rent:

+ Desert land

+ Neutral outlook on job employment and salary

            Just found a job at Xerox, so far, it’s OK, enjoy helping people, but not fairly certain whether I will stay at this job.

+ Paying interest if I buy: current market rates for a 30-year loan fixed is about 4.25% (mostly lower but I want to give myself some slack for worse-case scenarios).  This means if I buy a $125,000 house, I pay a total of $221,373.  Finding the difference gives me $96,373 or $267.70 per month of total interest.  However, I do want to note that the average annual U.S. inflation is around 3% a year, so if I pay the $615 monthly payment that is required, I only pay around 1.25% in real interest (or $70 a month).  Obviously, I will get the 30-year fixed.  To note on the $70 a month in real interest, if I just rent out to one person, I am making up more than the difference.

+ Start-up fees.  This includes the commission costs, closing costs, and beginning innovation and maintenance costs.  It’s not as bad because the VA home loan forbids many of the costs but it’s still worth mentioning here.  This, however, happens to every homebuyer.  As for home maintenance, I see myself as a jack-of-all trades guy and if I can find how to do it on google, I most likely should be able to do it.

+ Low cash reserves: I do have some cash reserves, classified, but I feel with my current cash on hand, the safety cushion is a bit low.  It’s like driving behind a car but tailgating with only a 1 or 1.5 second gap.  Increase that to 2 or more seconds and I will feel better (increase current cash reserves by 25%). 

+ My home church may move: The pastors are talking about this a lot and I’m excited!  However, in terms of settling down for a permanent residence, this is not good news as it adds unpredictability. 

+ Student loans and obligations: Have to mention this but it’s not so bad because for student loans, I qualify for income-based repayment which, based from their calculations, I will pay a low amount.  The only other obligation is my universal life insurance indexed.  This is not so bad as the money I put in it will grow, I just need to give it time.  In 10 years, for example, from the average 7.2% return rate, I will break nearly even with my total payments and I can take interest-free loans (although I dare not).  The more time on this one, it may actually be an advantage to buy.

+ Property Tax: If I buy, I almost forgot to include, but I will also need to pay a property tax.  El Paso County in Texas currently has a property tax rate of 2.09%.  This means a $125,000 house will cost $2,612 annually or about $217 per month.  The annual fee reduces the influence of inflation.  This cost is prohibitive if I choose to live alone.  

Overall Prognosis: Rent (80% rent, 20% buy)

 The fact that I feel my cash reserves is low and my home church may change locations is the leading factor for this one.  The fact that I just landed a job with no tenure is also another factor.  Additionally, the property tax in Texas also discourages me from buying until I have enough cash reserves.  Once my church moves, once I increase my cash reserves, and once I feel more comfortable at my workplace, I will be ready to start buying.  By then, it should be 75% buy and 25% rent, with the 25% rent consisting of opportunities of better jobs (but I’m planning to move up), and the fact that El Paso is on unsustainable land.  But God can make springs from desert.

This report, of course, is the product of my analysis and reasoning and is thus, incomplete.  I did receive limited input from my friends and family and the report is influenced by a limited extent.

PS: This report is also incomplete.  It was an outline and I filled must of the body but I don't have time to completely finish it.  Also, much have happened since this report but I still trust in God.

Spiritual Warfare (NES, PC game, 1992)

2015.9.17: Spiritual Warfare (NES, PC game, 1992)

11:44am – 12:55pm

One memorable game from my childhood is this Spiritual Warfare game published by Wisdom Tree in 1992.  The goal of this game is to evangelize people by throwing the fruits of the Spirit at them and to defeat the various mini-bosses (which is always a challenge), and finally, Satan.  You win the game when you saved the whole city.  As always, I’m into these RPG/Action-type games.  Screenshots of the game can be found at the end of this blog.

A concept I remembered that is important for the Christian walk is endurance.  Just as we need physical endurance to finish a race or to exert our body for an extended period of time, we need spiritual/soulical endurance to handle the stresses of life and to follow God’s principles in this world.

One of the key factors that got me through my Army experience is realizing that I need endurance and then focusing on this attribute.  Recently, however, I find myself lacking this trait.  When I drive on the street and drivers do an injustice on me, I get angry.  When life becomes hard, I want to take the easy way out and I become frustrated.  When people close to me say or do something that is mean, I get offended.  I would cry out to God, yes, but I would cry out to Him for justice, and maybe vengeance and revenge.  I believe measured justice is ok (Matthew 5:38), but I also need to pray that that punishment can bring that person to God.  But, after talking to my mentor, maybe I shouldn’t even think about justice.  God will bring justice anyways because it is in his character.  What I should do is to pray for their salvation and forgive them. 

I realized that those symptoms of anger, frustration, and offense are signs that my spiritual endurance is weakening.  My spirit is under stress but I don’t have enough “muscle” to endure it.  So, I am going to focus on this attribute again.

In the game Spiritual Warfare, “endurance” or “hit points” is measured by the amount of hearts the character has.  I used to think of that as physical hit points.  Once those bad guys beat you up too much, you lose the game.  But, now, I realized that those hit points are not physical in nature, but spiritual. I will get hurt; I will get hit; but will I continue to evangelize?  In spiritual warfare, for both definitions, you lose when you give up. 

God, increase my faith and endurance so I can have more hearts.  And, in the morning, fill those hearts up (or me up) so I can endure the difficulties of life [and the Christian walk]. 

P.S.

If you want to play and download the game: http://gamefabrique.com/download/spiritual-warfare/

Spyware checked (using Spybot)

Note: For Windows 10, set the program file to Windows 95 compatibility, disable display scaling, and run as admin on the “Compatibility” tab in the “Properties” window.  Once you run the game, open it using the “Genesis” option in the “File” menu and then press Esc for full screen.  :)

Some screenshots of the game:

Theme song for this blog:

2015.9.8 The Life Index Indicator

2015.9.8 The Life Index Indicator

How often have you done an assessment on yourself?  Yesterday night, while I was browsing the Web, I thought about making an assessment tool so I can better myself.  I would like to share with you this assessment.  I made this in about two hours (or half?).  PS: I have made similar indicators in the past but I would like to share this one.

The Life Index Indicator

This index shows the total well-being of a person's life.  It combines a person's spiritual, willpower, mental, and physical indexes into one.  The individual indexes will follow shortly.

Value System:

0 = None, no indicator of this attribute

1 = Very limited attribute, shows rarely

2 = Poor attribute, shows once in a while

3 = Okay attribute, shows often

4 = Good attribute, shows many times

5 = Excellent attribute, shows always

This value system, from 0 to 5, is used for the purposes of calculating the different indicators and indexes.

Rather than going into too much technical detail, I will start with the first major index, the Spiritual Index.

The Spiritual Index

The Spiritual Index is the most important index as it determines a person's well-being and future state of his/her life.

You might need to scroll a little to the right to see the full table.  This table describes the sub-indicators for the Spiritual Index.  I included Time spent with God, Prayer, Worship, Devotion, Evangelism, and Helpfulness, with its description.  The value is what I currently have now, using my intuition.  I thought about hiding it but for the purposes of sharing this tool, I decided to show it.  

The importance is the percentage that each sub-indicator carries.  For example, Prayer carries 0.25 or 25% of this index's total score.  All of the sub-indicators add up to 1 or 100%.  The asterisk shows the top two most important sub-indicators of the index.

The calculations is simply getting the raw score by multiplying the "value" by the "importance" then I add all the values up.  If I get a perfect "5" on all my sub-scores, for example, I should also get a "5" in the sum of the calculations.  

Then, I derive the total index, which is the percentage format of the sum of the "calculation" score.  So, 2.03125 / 5 in percentage format is 40.625%.  

On a side note, maybe I fudged too much on "time spent with God" and placed too little emphasis on "evangelism."  I have my biases but I will do my best to be truthful.

The following indexes are similar so I will not repeat the technical details again.

The Willpower Index

The second index determines attributes of the soul, which is a person's willpower.  I included four indicators for this index: Life purpose, Discipline, Focus, and Foresight.

I added "Life Purpose" before listening to Pastor Patty's preaching on Identity on Sep. 4.  But after listening to it on Soundcloud, it is more important than ever.  The life purpose also determines a person's identity.

I know that each of these values are interlocked or correlated with each other.  For example, it is impossible to have a strong prayer life without spending a lot of discretionary and/or total time with God.  By discretionary, I mean free time and God knows how much free time each of us actually has.  So, improving one sub-indicator can influence and improve others, including those from other indexes.  

I included "Focus" because I wanted to include sin and temptation.  "Focus" also determines how successful we are in resisting and/or fleeing from the devil.  

I tried to include base factors or factors that people can improve on.  You are comparing to yourself, to the person that God wants you to be.  So, I didn't include factors like "courage" because it will come naturally when other indicators improve (?).  I try to add intrinsic factors as opposed to extrinsic.

The Mental Index

The other index of the soul, the mental index, covers a person's brain, or mental-related skills.  Again, I tried to keep this short and simple by adding as few factors as necessary and by using intrinsic factors.  

I added "Happiness" to this index because a person's emotional state can greatly influence mental capacity.  

The Physical Index

The fourth and least important index is the Physical Index.  "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things" (1 Timothy 4:8a).  However, it is still important since we are still in the body.

I remember Pastor Frank said he maintains great physical health so he can travel around the world to preach the gospel.  

The Life Index

So, the Life Index is a combination of all four of the other indexes.  It is like the stock market, but on a global scale.  By the way, maybe I made this because I'm into investing and I look into the stock indexes of the world.  But in this world, the "world" is you, the whole person, and the major indexes are the major components of that person.  

The percentages or "Index Value" won't make sense unless I add its interpretation:

The index value scale is from 0 to 100.  I added its interpretation.  This can fit with the Total Life Index, or any of the major sub-indexes.  

As so it happens, the spirit, of course, is greater and thus carries more weight than the soul or the body.  And the soul carries more weight than the body.  But, all of them are important to the overall score and neglecting one will cause the other indexes to drop.  Similar to globalization in the real-world stock markets.  :)  

Conclusion

So based from this exercise, and I will do an assessment on myself using this or similar tools on a regular basis, I have come with the following conclusions.

The first one is that this indicator shows that seeking God is the most important and that by seeking Him, everything will fall into place.

The second is that God is giving me mercy and grace.  My spiritual index is the lowest and, yet, God hasn't given me what I really deserve.  God is merciful and slow to anger.  He gives us time to repent and to follow Him.  

I thought about how this assessment can apply to people who claim that they don't need God or don't seek God and, yet, are successful.  Their spiritual index may be very low, if they rank themselves with spiritual eyes, but the other scores may be high.  They may be healthy and strong:

Truly God is good to Israel, to those whose hearts are pure. But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness. They seem to live such painless lives; their bodies are so healthy and strong.  (Psalm 73:1-4)

However, God is still the judge and this discrepancy in the index scores will be corrected in time.  He may be giving those people, like he's giving me, time to repent.  What is normal is that the spiritual index should be the highest and all the other three indexes should lag behind.

So this is the assessment tool that I developed in a nutshell.  :)  Thank you for reading and God bless you!