Boundaries

So often when we hear the word boundaries we tend to think of fences or dividing lines between us and our neighbors. Even in sports we have boundaries defining the area of play for a sport, and of course, the lane dividers keeping us from encroaching into someone else’s lane.

There are boundaries all around us. Everywhere we go and in everything we do, boundaries are just part of our lives; however, when it comes to our personal lives and our interaction with people and family boundaries go out the window.

I know growing up for me the concept of boundaries and how to use them was a foreign concept. So often the traditional boundary-violation system is passed down from generation to generation. This violation, or lack of being taught boundaries, has led to a generation of people who cannot say no, and if they do they feel guilty for saying it. Or they let others run all over them because they do not know how to set a boundary and lost the ability to know who they really are as a person. When you have a lack of boundaries you are letting others define who you are.

When I read the Bible I see a very big God who sets very clear and definable boundaries. Let’s take a look at the Ten Commandments with very clear and established boundaries, and Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) who were given a very clear boundary of no stealing. Just look at the consequences they suffered for their violation of God’s boundary.

Second, what are the boundaries we are showing for our kids? Are we teaching them how to respectfully say no, or are we as parents violating our kids’ boundaries because we are so weak with ours that we will not allow them to have theirs?

You want a healthy strong child sold out for Christ? Then help them to set and respect boundaries and to see that God has boundaries for all of us. Please share with me your story of discovering boundaries in your life.

Easters

Easters. Okay, I know you are thinking this has to be a typo. It’s not. Yes Easters. Sunday is coming, and I hope and pray that you will be up early to celebrate our victory in Christ. So going to church is Easter celebration one. Now for Easter celebration two: the time with your family celebrating Jesus for who he said he was in overcoming death giving us an eternal hope.

As a child Easter was one of the few times we went to church. I would get all dressed up sit through a service which would seem to last for a week, and then get ripped off with a bread crumb and a sip of juice. Wow, I thought it was torture.

However, the best part of Easter was the coming dinner. Was this the special meal to celebrate the egg? Or just the bunny that laid the egg? Wait bunnies do not lay eggs. Maybe this guy Jesus I heard mentioned created the holiday like George Washington’s birthday. I thought it was fun!

What I am trying to get at is what are your kids getting out of Easter? Is it a day of traditions with a little bit of Jesus added in for flavor? Or it is a day that Jesus is completely and absolutely the center piece of the day and every day after?

As parents, we need to ask ourselves if Easter is truly a day we are helping our kids understand the importance of Jesus overcoming death. Are our lives celebrated every day in that victory? I just want to challenge you with something.

Challenge: At the end of Easter Sunday ask your kids what the day was all about, and why you did certain things that day (i.e. church, special meal, etc.). See what they say. Some might be right on, and some kids might surprise you with how far you’ve moved away from the true meaning of Easter.

Random

Have you ever noticed how random life seems to be? Never knowing what is coming next or what is around the corner. We think we live in a world where we truly believe things randomly happen and where luck has such a huge role to play.

If we were to take the time to look back at our lives, we would see that “random” has little to no part to play. Chaos and luck are just products of our fears and lack of trust in God. What we call life’s randomness is actually God’s hand working in our lives.

Well for me, as I grew as a believer and in my walk with the Lord, I started to see that God was using “random” moments to truly take me where He wanted me to go. In the reader’s digest version, I look back on my years of being in the restaurant business, not just as a job, but also as a training ground for today. My years of volunteering at different churches in children’s ministries, was His prompting me to move along and gain more experience for today. There is so much more to this life story, but I hope you get the idea.

All I went through on my journey was never random but calculated training ground to prepare me for my mission today. However, when I was in the middle of it that was not my perspective. I saw it all as random.

     But I ask you all this:

• ·       Do you truly believe life is random?
• ·       Is God working in the randomness of life?
• ·       Can you look back to see God’s hand directing your life?
• ·       Is our God a God of chaos?
• ·       Is it luck or a blessing from God?
• ·       How quick are you to turn on God when He is directing you in a direction you do not want to go in?
• ·       Does God love you? And if He does, then why would he let you be in a state of randomness?

I have learned over the years that the best of times have been when God radically changed my life and generated me in a direction I did not want to go. Oh, what a blessing to see at the end of this chapter what He has done with me. My feeling is, bring it on God!

Share with me your journey, from what you perceived as randomness, but in actuality was His hand guiding your life. 

Centered

When life becomes crazy and our kids are driving us to the brink of insanity, what do we center ourselves on? What is the one thing that brings us back to normal?

For many it is some type of substance abuse: Internet, TV, disconnecting and disengaging from the situation and the family, physically leaving or exploding to the point where everyone else is on pins and needles. Unfortunately in society today, we’ve been taught to escape elsewhere and dive into something that will give us pleasure or a release.

That is a lie perpetrated by an enemy who would love for each one of us to react to these situations in that very way. But there is a solution. At our very finger tips we hold the answer to being centered, but often times we choose to reject it for lack of personal and spiritual maturity.

The answer is Jesus. Yes, Jesus. It is that simple. But often we choose a course of destruction and leave out the one ingredient that would help us be what family and friends need.

 

Early on when I was a new believer, I was exactly like the person described above. I wanted all the pleasures of life and complete control over everything. I had bought into the package the enemy was selling hook, line and sinker.

I was an immature believer and did not realize that Jesus did more than open a place in Heaven for me: He actually wanted to be the center of my life. Jesus wanted invade every part of my life, and I mean every part, including the areas I thought I deserved or earned for myself.

Well as maturity came, the more I relinquished, and the more Jesus became the center of my life. The better I became at dealing with distractions. In the end I drew closer to my wife and kids. When I allowed Jesus to invade my life, I truly understood what it was to be centered in Christ and to know His peace, and I think that is something we are all looking for.

As we strive in our busy and complicated lives, what we can do to place Jesus at the center of it all? Here are some actions I take to stay focused:

• No day can start without prayer and the conscientious inclusion of Jesus in my day
• Reading of His word on a daily basis
• Making the conscience decision to keep Jesus at the forefront of my mind all day long
• Knowing that Jesus is not a tool for an end to a means; moreover, He is my Lord who suffered for me and took a punishment I so deserved
• Give Jesus the credit for my day and not credit myself
• Purposely make Jesus part of all my decisions and seek His counsel
• To verbally say His name everyday out loud (Try it and see- just by saying it can make a difference in your heart)
• Ask the Holy Spirit every day to help me walk the best path to honor my King Jesus

Some of these suggestions may seem really simple, and they are. However, the Gospel is simple, and so is the relationship He wants to have with us. So I leave you with some questions you might need to ask yourself.
 
Am I walking daily with Jesus? Is Jesus added along in my day? Is prayer even a part of my life? Is Jesus getting the time He has earned and deserves in my life? When things get rough, who do I turn to as my center? Am I so sold out for Jesus that I cannot go a day without Him?

Please comment and share what you do to keep Jesus at the center of your life. Love you all.

Pressurized

Life can be like a pressure cooker. The valves to release the pressure are turned too tight. And all anyone sees is the gauge at the top starting to point itself at maximum capacity. What has you at maximum capacity? Where is your gauge at? You may be oblivious to what it reads, but everyone else sees it, so where are you at?

After I was married for a few years (I was married at age 21), I started to feel the pressure of life. Knowing it was time to grow up was not easy at such a young age. I was a young man with a pretty good job, a wife and eyes set on the future. The only problem was my personality kepping me wound too tight like the knobs on a pressure cooker.

However, I thought everything was okay, but instead I was leaving a path of destruction behind me. My gauge was pinned at maximum; nonetheless, I couldn’t see it, but everyone else could and avoided me as much as possible. I was pressurized and ready to blow!

At what point are we the pressure cooker? What is everyone else reading on our gauge and we are not? After many years of trying operate like this, I learned some tools to help drop the pressure and to release the valves on myself.

• Have someone who can speak into your life honestly and want what is best for you so you won’t blow up on them (hopefully).
• The only thing I can control in life is me, so give up on trying to control others.
• You don’t like what you see in the mirror, then do something about it.
• Be completely and absolutely sold out for God. Let God define who you are, not others. Others may want you to be something you are not meant. That alone will raise the pressure in the cooker.
• Laugh. Laugh at yourself, laugh with others and this will be huge in relieving the pressure.

I could go on and on. However, it is up to you if you are going to be the pressurized person who people like but cannot trust. What are some ways you relieve the pressures of life? What do you do when you are pressurized and ready to blow up?

Will Be Back To Posting Soon

I apologize for the lack of posts recently. I just had knee surgery and with the recovery time and getting my pace back around the ministry, there has been less time to blog. But rest assured, I will be back to writing and posting v-blogs in no time. Thank you for your support and understanding.

God Bless!

Christmas