I grew up too fast. I was impatient to be an adult. Ever since I was little I used to daydream about being an adult and living an adult life. I invented in my imagination a little city of mini-houses where my friends and I all lived like little families and pretended we were grown ups. I had a a mini plastic ironing board when I was young, and then migrated to the real iron to press hankercheifs and tea-towels. I longed for it more than just a child playing house for fun. I was keen to be my own independent person as soon as possible.
Moving out of home at 17 showed me that being an adult wasn't everything I had imagined it to be.
Showing posts with label Proverbs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Proverbs. Show all posts
Monday, July 4, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
I don't FEEL like it.
With children, we know that even though they don't feel like eating their veges, brushing their teeth, cleaning their rooms, doing their homework, they still need to because we know that it is good for them.
The problem, as adults we don't always learn the same thing. We are society ruled by feelings. Whether we think we are a hedonist or not, a lot of us unconsciously follow that way of thinking. (The heart is deceitful above all things - Jeremiah 17:9) If it feels good, it is good. If it doesn't feel good, it must not be good. Sure, we may know that we have to go to work, pay taxes, do the housework even if we don't feel like it. But often, deep down, we hold the belief that feelings rule. We just have to look at the state of marriages, the attitudes towards sex and drinking, towards health, food and exercise, to see that so many people are clinging to the roller coaster of feelings.
I know I have definitely let myself be ruled by feelings in my life. So I have done a lot of things that haven't been good for me because, either it felt good at the time so I did it, or it didn't feel good, it didn't seem fun, so I didn't do it. Like when I was trying to learn an instrument, and it was difficult and didn't feel much fun because I couldn't make a good sound straight away, I gave up. Or when I wanted to drink alcohol or go out with guys, I felt like it, so why not?
This is a very worldly attitude. And we're can notice and criticise this attitude when it comes to things like bringing up children (though because of the attitudes of so many adults, this is even being lost for children.) But often not so good when it comes to ourselves.
And especially when it comes to our relationship with God.
We base it on how we feel. We don't feel like praying, like reading our Bibles. Even when we do pray, God doesn't feel like he is there listening. It's all very easy to praise and worship God when we feel like it, when it feels like God has done something for us. But when life isn't so easy, we don't feeling like praising and thanking God. It doesn't feel like he's doing anything good, so I don't feel like praying. I don't FEEL anything. Is God really there?
But has God ever said, "When you can feel me, that's when I'm here" ? No, he says, "I'm here."
Has he said, "When life feels easy, that's when I'm looking out for you."? No, he says, "I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you."
And if we feel like doing something because it feels good now, why should we not do it? Because we know there is more to life than just what is in this earth.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21
Even when we don't feel like doing something, when it feels hard or painful, why do we do it? Because like a child eating their vegetables we know God has told us it is good for us, even if it doesn't feel like it. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. Proverbs 22:15
We when don't feel like God is near to us, or listening to us, we know he still is. How? Because he said he always will be.
Feelings are not bad - but we have to recognise them for what they are - subjective and changeable. We should pay attention to our feelings, but not let them have the final say.
If we live letting feelings rule us, life is a roller coaster of emotions. We won't end up being very healthy or stable, and that includes spiritually.
When have you done something that went against your feelings, and been rewarded? Or when have you just followed your feelings and what have been the consequences?
When have you done something that went against your feelings, and been rewarded? Or when have you just followed your feelings and what have been the consequences?
Thursday, November 18, 2010
It's Me or the Dog (aka Learning to live in Boundaries)
People don't like to me made to do things they aren't interested in, or is not fun or pleasant. But sometimes things are vitally important in challenging us to grow, develop character and become a multidimensional person.
More and more in schools I am seeing young people who are one dimensional. And that one dimension is often not very pleasant. They've never been disciplined or made to do things. They know if they throw a tantrum they can get out of things or get whatever they want. They run away from the things they don't like. It doesn't make them happy people. It doesn't make them fun to be around. And it doesn't help them become good adults.
Even in school now, students less and less have to do subjects they don't like. There is more and more flexibility, but less and less responsibility or challenge.
This assignment's too hard for you? We'll change it. Didn't pass year 8, 9 or 10? Never mind, you can still go up to year 11. If you find that too hard, we'll adapt everything until it's so simple you can't help but pass.
And I'm not blaming any one person, group or system. It is the way society has become and we're all just swept along in the flow.
Where's the natural consequences? If you're lazy and don't try at anything, you'll fail. People won't always be there to rescue you or bail you out. That's what life is like, but we're not teaching them that.
I'm all for finding other pathways, and don't think that getting an education has to all come from school and university. But I also think that if a students wants to take a different pathway, that needs to come from them. They should be learning determination and self-motivation, not "If I yell at teachers and skip school and don't try on my assignments, I can get out of it all and someone else will find me a job."
And unfortunately, because we are all part of this, often life won't even teach them the lessons they need. So many people somehow cruise through life with someone always bailing them out or manipulating things to go their way. I think we often feel guilty, like we've failed these people, so if we just keep fixing things for them they'll be alright eventually. They might survive life, at least for a while, and think it's great.
But they won't be happy. And they won't make the people around them happy. They'll think they are for a while at least. But anything that focuses on the self - on selfishness, personal gain, and "me, me, me", leads only to self-destruction.
They say that dogs are happiest when they have clear rules to follow, know the consequences and have a clear place in the 'pack' - not when they are coddled, and spoilt and treated like babies. Have you not seen those dog training shows? It's Me or the Dog, or the Dog Whisperer.
Where does the responsibility lie? In the dog shows, it's rarely that they've just got a crazy dog - the problem is that the owners need training.
With this case we aren't dogs, so obviously some of it lies in the young people to learn to take responsibility for their own lives. But before that, it lies in the people with the job of teaching them how to do that - that's all of us.
Parents need to be less concerned with being friends with their children, and more concerned with making sure there children become rounded people. They need to instil in their children a sense of self-worth and value and love and compassion. Then whatever circumstances children face, they will be more equipped to deal with it. And less likely to be a pain along the way!
We are happier with clear boundaries and a clear place in the world. With an absence of rules and structure, we may think we're happy and free for a while, but too much freedom becomes a prison of its own. We always end up searching for something to fill the space. We look for something to define us, and end up being consumed and controlled by that thing. And anything other than God goes nowhere good.
We drive people away, we lose our joy, we lose the real things that make us who we are and become that one dimensional shell of who we were created by God to be.
Whether you are having trouble setting boundaries in the lives of those you are responsible for (parents with children), or have grown up without someone setting any boundaries for you (broken homes), or have just rebelled against the boundaries that were set for you (against parents, or against God) it's not too late.
My burden is light - God's boundaries, God's rules - they may seem challenging. We may have to do things we don't like, or don't think we're good at. He will discipline us when we do things wrong. But his burden is light. I don't think this means it's easy to carry all the time - it means that the outcome is worth anything we go through. It doesn't weigh us down and crush us. Carrying his burden ultimately leads us to more joy, fullness, happiness and freedom that we can imagine or ever hope to find in any other source.
Throw off everything you've piled onto your own back - it will crush you - and ask God to replace it.
Verses:
Matthew 11:30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Galations 6:7-8 ...You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
Proverbs 3: 11-12 My child, don't reject the Lord's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.
And pretty much read all of proverbs....
More and more in schools I am seeing young people who are one dimensional. And that one dimension is often not very pleasant. They've never been disciplined or made to do things. They know if they throw a tantrum they can get out of things or get whatever they want. They run away from the things they don't like. It doesn't make them happy people. It doesn't make them fun to be around. And it doesn't help them become good adults.
Even in school now, students less and less have to do subjects they don't like. There is more and more flexibility, but less and less responsibility or challenge.
This assignment's too hard for you? We'll change it. Didn't pass year 8, 9 or 10? Never mind, you can still go up to year 11. If you find that too hard, we'll adapt everything until it's so simple you can't help but pass.
And I'm not blaming any one person, group or system. It is the way society has become and we're all just swept along in the flow.
Where's the natural consequences? If you're lazy and don't try at anything, you'll fail. People won't always be there to rescue you or bail you out. That's what life is like, but we're not teaching them that.
I'm all for finding other pathways, and don't think that getting an education has to all come from school and university. But I also think that if a students wants to take a different pathway, that needs to come from them. They should be learning determination and self-motivation, not "If I yell at teachers and skip school and don't try on my assignments, I can get out of it all and someone else will find me a job."
And unfortunately, because we are all part of this, often life won't even teach them the lessons they need. So many people somehow cruise through life with someone always bailing them out or manipulating things to go their way. I think we often feel guilty, like we've failed these people, so if we just keep fixing things for them they'll be alright eventually. They might survive life, at least for a while, and think it's great.
But they won't be happy. And they won't make the people around them happy. They'll think they are for a while at least. But anything that focuses on the self - on selfishness, personal gain, and "me, me, me", leads only to self-destruction.
They say that dogs are happiest when they have clear rules to follow, know the consequences and have a clear place in the 'pack' - not when they are coddled, and spoilt and treated like babies. Have you not seen those dog training shows? It's Me or the Dog, or the Dog Whisperer.
Where does the responsibility lie? In the dog shows, it's rarely that they've just got a crazy dog - the problem is that the owners need training.
With this case we aren't dogs, so obviously some of it lies in the young people to learn to take responsibility for their own lives. But before that, it lies in the people with the job of teaching them how to do that - that's all of us.
Parents need to be less concerned with being friends with their children, and more concerned with making sure there children become rounded people. They need to instil in their children a sense of self-worth and value and love and compassion. Then whatever circumstances children face, they will be more equipped to deal with it. And less likely to be a pain along the way!
We are happier with clear boundaries and a clear place in the world. With an absence of rules and structure, we may think we're happy and free for a while, but too much freedom becomes a prison of its own. We always end up searching for something to fill the space. We look for something to define us, and end up being consumed and controlled by that thing. And anything other than God goes nowhere good.
We drive people away, we lose our joy, we lose the real things that make us who we are and become that one dimensional shell of who we were created by God to be.
Whether you are having trouble setting boundaries in the lives of those you are responsible for (parents with children), or have grown up without someone setting any boundaries for you (broken homes), or have just rebelled against the boundaries that were set for you (against parents, or against God) it's not too late.
My burden is light - God's boundaries, God's rules - they may seem challenging. We may have to do things we don't like, or don't think we're good at. He will discipline us when we do things wrong. But his burden is light. I don't think this means it's easy to carry all the time - it means that the outcome is worth anything we go through. It doesn't weigh us down and crush us. Carrying his burden ultimately leads us to more joy, fullness, happiness and freedom that we can imagine or ever hope to find in any other source.
Throw off everything you've piled onto your own back - it will crush you - and ask God to replace it.
Verses:
Matthew 11:30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Galations 6:7-8 ...You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
Proverbs 3: 11-12 My child, don't reject the Lord's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.
And pretty much read all of proverbs....
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Tame the Tongue
Whoever said "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" was in denial. Words hurt. Our speech has power.
Part 2 of my Trials of Teenage life series based on:
Bible verses used in this video, plus a few extras:
James 3 - words are powerful, like a spark starting forest fire, and like a small rudder steering a huge ship, our speech can direct the course of our lives.
When we speak a lot, and without thinking, we're going to say things that get us into trouble or hurt others.
Proverbs 10:11 & 19
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life....
We can't take back the things we say - once it's said, it's out there and we'll have to deal with the consequences.
Our words show what's in our hearts and minds:
Matthew 12: 33-37 (Message version)
Part 2 of my Trials of Teenage life series based on:
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12
Bible verses used in this video, plus a few extras:
James 3 - words are powerful, like a spark starting forest fire, and like a small rudder steering a huge ship, our speech can direct the course of our lives.
When we speak a lot, and without thinking, we're going to say things that get us into trouble or hurt others.
Proverbs 10:11 & 19
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life....
When words are many, sin is not absent,
but he who holds his tongue is wise.
Don't listen to the people who are 'shouting' in your life - the wisdom often comes in more quiet package.
Ecclesiastes 9:17
The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
We can't take back the things we say - once it's said, it's out there and we'll have to deal with the consequences.
MAT 12:36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of
judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
Our words show what's in our hearts and minds:
Matthew 12: 33-37 (Message version)
"If you grow a healthy tree, you'll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you'll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree. "You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It's your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation."
Saturday, October 30, 2010
God made Adam by breathing into the dirt
You've got to say that title in your best rapper voice because it's the lyrics to Hands High by Lecrae.
But beyond that, I just had a thought getting out of the shower this morning. It's always those random times when the best thoughts come to me. God likes to catch me when I'm off guard and my head is not as full of all my own stuff.
Genesis 2:7 says "the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."
You could take that several ways..."so, what - human beings are just a pile of dirt then? Gee, thats encouraging.."
Or it can remid you of what's really important. Our earthly bodies are temporary and will eventually turn back to the dust they were made of. But, whatever we're told in Biology, it is not really our bodies that give us life. The blood, our heart beating, our brain firing, our lungs inflating....that's all just physical, temporary, and easily lost.
God breathed into us the breath of life... that REAL life from God. His breath, his word, his life is infused in us. It is enternal.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life - John 3:36
That word should take on a completely different meaning for us.
"Life is hard."
"Life is short."
"I should have achieved more by this stage of my life..."
We think of life as just the physical act of being alive, or as just the passing of time as we get older and go through stages.
Thinking of it that way, enternal life doesn't really seem like such a great prospect. An enternity of struggles, expectations and falling short of dreams.
But the LIFE from God - that's an entirely different and an entirely more inspiring and exciting concept.
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you... - 1 Peter 1:3-4
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ - John 7:37-38
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. - Colossians 3:2-3
God.... made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. - Ephesians 2:5
When the thoughts of 'life is hard', 'whats the meaning of it all?' come creeping in, read these verses, and all of Gods living word. Let him breathe again his breath of life into you heart, mind and spirit. Set your eyes on him and remember what and Who it is you are really living for...and what that LIFE really means.
It is nothing to do with out physical selves and all to do with Christ in us
Read the whole verse of Ephesians 2:1-10
And how do we claim this life?
My son, pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
and health to a man's whole body.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
Proverbs 4:20-23
The Message version:
tune your ears to my voice.
Keep my message in plain view at all times.
Concentrate! Learn it by heart!
Those who discover these words live, really live;
body and soul, they're bursting with health.
But beyond that, I just had a thought getting out of the shower this morning. It's always those random times when the best thoughts come to me. God likes to catch me when I'm off guard and my head is not as full of all my own stuff.
Genesis 2:7 says "the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."
You could take that several ways..."so, what - human beings are just a pile of dirt then? Gee, thats encouraging.."
Or it can remid you of what's really important. Our earthly bodies are temporary and will eventually turn back to the dust they were made of. But, whatever we're told in Biology, it is not really our bodies that give us life. The blood, our heart beating, our brain firing, our lungs inflating....that's all just physical, temporary, and easily lost.
God breathed into us the breath of life... that REAL life from God. His breath, his word, his life is infused in us. It is enternal.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life - John 3:36
LIFE
That word should take on a completely different meaning for us.
"Life is hard."
"Life is short."
"I should have achieved more by this stage of my life..."
We think of life as just the physical act of being alive, or as just the passing of time as we get older and go through stages.
Thinking of it that way, enternal life doesn't really seem like such a great prospect. An enternity of struggles, expectations and falling short of dreams.
But the LIFE from God - that's an entirely different and an entirely more inspiring and exciting concept.
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you... - 1 Peter 1:3-4
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ - John 7:37-38
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. - Colossians 3:2-3
God.... made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. - Ephesians 2:5
When the thoughts of 'life is hard', 'whats the meaning of it all?' come creeping in, read these verses, and all of Gods living word. Let him breathe again his breath of life into you heart, mind and spirit. Set your eyes on him and remember what and Who it is you are really living for...and what that LIFE really means.
It is nothing to do with out physical selves and all to do with Christ in us
Read the whole verse of Ephesians 2:1-10
And how do we claim this life?
My son, pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
and health to a man's whole body.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
Proverbs 4:20-23
The Message version:
Learn It by Heart
Dear friend, listen well to my words;tune your ears to my voice.
Keep my message in plain view at all times.
Concentrate! Learn it by heart!
Those who discover these words live, really live;
body and soul, they're bursting with health.
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