This world tells us that love and lust are the same thing. The Bible tells us a very different story....
-1 Corinthians 13:4-7 tells us that love is patient, kind, etc.. This is the proper view of love that will bring lasting joy. We need to get this drilled into our thinking because the world is all around us telling us a very different story. The story they tell is all about lust. Lust gets you into trouble and steals your joy. It can even less to death (see Proverbs and the stories about "the immoral woman"). The Bible on the other hand, it teaches us how to make love a wonderfully beautiful thing that is centered on Christ and that brings true joy and happiness. It starts by following what 1 Corinthians says, and ensuring that its teachings become the way we think so as to truly change our behaviour.
-we need to teach the kids these truths. I think one way to do it is to continually point out where the world.i s wrong on this topic. We can instead point them to what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians, and many other passages, to show them the Truth. To show them what God says and why He says it and to show them how very wrong the world is. We need to also show them what will happen when we follow the world and its way if thinking, and then contrast that with the joy that comes from following God and His way of thinking.
Wednesday, 15 June 2016
Thursday, 11 February 2016
What I want my kids to know about sexual sin.
1. It is a unique sin that has consequences which stay with you for good.
2. You must keep the line way back from what is wrong. God does not want you to get hurt, and once you cross the line, there is a ton of pain. You should set guardrails that are well back from the line and feel discomfort when you come even close to the guardrails.
3. The world sends a much different message than the Bible in regards to sexual sin. And the world will trsmplr on you when you cross the line, even though they condone the sin.
4. Be unique. Don't be like the rest of the world and have to deal with their problems. There is tremendous joy in staying clear from sexual sin, and the world will respect you greatly for it. Maybe not at first, or at all times, but they will respect uohnfor it, because all of God's ways are always best.
4. There is tremendous joy in staying pure. Don't make unwise decisions thdt will lead to consequences that you will have to deal with for the rest of your life. Instead, make good choices that will lead to positive rewards that you will be able to deal with for the rest of your life.
2. You must keep the line way back from what is wrong. God does not want you to get hurt, and once you cross the line, there is a ton of pain. You should set guardrails that are well back from the line and feel discomfort when you come even close to the guardrails.
3. The world sends a much different message than the Bible in regards to sexual sin. And the world will trsmplr on you when you cross the line, even though they condone the sin.
4. Be unique. Don't be like the rest of the world and have to deal with their problems. There is tremendous joy in staying clear from sexual sin, and the world will respect you greatly for it. Maybe not at first, or at all times, but they will respect uohnfor it, because all of God's ways are always best.
4. There is tremendous joy in staying pure. Don't make unwise decisions thdt will lead to consequences that you will have to deal with for the rest of your life. Instead, make good choices that will lead to positive rewards that you will be able to deal with for the rest of your life.
Monday, 8 February 2016
Eagerly anticipating heaven
I need to properly anticipate heaven. While it is good to want to be with my children here on earth, I must not allow that desire to prevent me from being absolutely excited about seeing Jesus.
I exist for Him and His Kingdom. If inwas to die, that would be the best thing for me. I can trust the Lord to take care of my family. After all, it is Him taking care of them even while I am here on earth.
I must eagerly anticipate seeing Jesus. If I am not absolutely pumped and excited to see Jesus' face, then I don't have the view of Jesus that I should.
I exist for Him and His Kingdom. If inwas to die, that would be the best thing for me. I can trust the Lord to take care of my family. After all, it is Him taking care of them even while I am here on earth.
I must eagerly anticipate seeing Jesus. If I am not absolutely pumped and excited to see Jesus' face, then I don't have the view of Jesus that I should.
Friday, 18 December 2015
God's perfect will & permissive will
God has a perfect will - that which cannot be changed. God has a permissive will, whereby He allows for various things to happen and uses those things to further His Kingdom and His glory.
It is important when looking at God's perfect wil vs his permissive will, that I always seem to honour Him regardless of my circumstances. A big part of this is accepting whatever He allows, or does not allow in my life. I must NEVER wrestle against the Lord. I must never seek my will, but rather, my desire should always be for His will to be done. I must totally be surrendered to Him. If I am not content in my circumstances then I am not surrendered.
In regards to His permissive will, I believe it is okay to seek His help and guidance in doing your best to accomplish goals that you have. However, it is imperative that I do a couple of things when doing this. First, it is important to seek God to ensure that the thing you are pursuing aligns with His will for your life. Second, you must accept whatever the results of your pursuit is.
When pursuing goals that are honouring tonthe Lord, it is very important to ensure that I never wrestle against God. I am definitely not surrendered if I do so. I should seek His guidance and help when striving to do my best, and striving to accomplish things, but I should never wrestle with God for those things to happen. It is always way out of line to try and make God do what you want. It shoes incredible disrespect and shows that you are not surrendered.
While itnis never okay to wrestle with God, it can be okay to wrestle for God. For instance, it can be okay to wrestle at trying to become more like Him and serve Him better. This type of wrestling is me partnering with God, relying on His strength, and seeking Him as I work to become more like Him, serve Him, and further His Kingdom.
It is important when looking at God's perfect wil vs his permissive will, that I always seem to honour Him regardless of my circumstances. A big part of this is accepting whatever He allows, or does not allow in my life. I must NEVER wrestle against the Lord. I must never seek my will, but rather, my desire should always be for His will to be done. I must totally be surrendered to Him. If I am not content in my circumstances then I am not surrendered.
In regards to His permissive will, I believe it is okay to seek His help and guidance in doing your best to accomplish goals that you have. However, it is imperative that I do a couple of things when doing this. First, it is important to seek God to ensure that the thing you are pursuing aligns with His will for your life. Second, you must accept whatever the results of your pursuit is.
When pursuing goals that are honouring tonthe Lord, it is very important to ensure that I never wrestle against God. I am definitely not surrendered if I do so. I should seek His guidance and help when striving to do my best, and striving to accomplish things, but I should never wrestle with God for those things to happen. It is always way out of line to try and make God do what you want. It shoes incredible disrespect and shows that you are not surrendered.
While itnis never okay to wrestle with God, it can be okay to wrestle for God. For instance, it can be okay to wrestle at trying to become more like Him and serve Him better. This type of wrestling is me partnering with God, relying on His strength, and seeking Him as I work to become more like Him, serve Him, and further His Kingdom.
Wednesday, 9 December 2015
How to breakaway from the ways of this world
From Andy Stanley "Breakaway" series.
If I don't want to live a boring life thatnfalls into the patterns of this world, I need to do the following....
1. recognize that God is working in every circumstance I find myself in. I need to therefore be seeking Him for how He wants to use me and be seeking to be a light for Him.
2. Realize that my beliefs are what lead to my decisions and therefore outcomes in life from those decisions. I therefore need to allow God to transform the way that I think.
2. Realize that God always knows best.
3. Do not follow my heart. Follow God's wisdom and Word. My heart will fool me and lead me astay.
4. God has a purpose for my life. I need to live in a way which is obedient to Him so as not to miss His plans and purposes for me.
5. Be honest with why I want to do the things I do. This will help me make wiser decisions and not justify poor ones. Don't be foolish by justifying bad decisions which are sinful!
If I don't want to live a boring life thatnfalls into the patterns of this world, I need to do the following....
1. recognize that God is working in every circumstance I find myself in. I need to therefore be seeking Him for how He wants to use me and be seeking to be a light for Him.
2. Realize that my beliefs are what lead to my decisions and therefore outcomes in life from those decisions. I therefore need to allow God to transform the way that I think.
2. Realize that God always knows best.
3. Do not follow my heart. Follow God's wisdom and Word. My heart will fool me and lead me astay.
4. God has a purpose for my life. I need to live in a way which is obedient to Him so as not to miss His plans and purposes for me.
5. Be honest with why I want to do the things I do. This will help me make wiser decisions and not justify poor ones. Don't be foolish by justifying bad decisions which are sinful!
Tuesday, 15 September 2015
Have a new kid by Friday parenting book notes by Kevin Lehman
1. Let reality be the teacher. No need for anger and lectures, let authentic consequences be the teacher.
2. When you ask them to do something, no need for reminders or hounding. If they don't do it, then simply provide meaningful, authentic consequence and walk away.
3. Respond rather than react. Don't get angry and make a mountain out of a mole hill.
2. When you ask them to do something, no need for reminders or hounding. If they don't do it, then simply provide meaningful, authentic consequence and walk away.
3. Respond rather than react. Don't get angry and make a mountain out of a mole hill.
Friday, 4 September 2015
Worshiping God in "spirit and in truth"
John Piper puts this in words that are much easier to understand. He says that to worship in spirit and in truth is as follows:
1. Spirit - your spirit is genuinely enamored by the Lord and as such you worship Him with genuine excitement. As well, the Holy Spirit can come upon you and help you in doing this because the Holy Spirit lives within you.
2. Truth - when you worship God because you know Him, and know that He is absolutely worthy of all praise. Your spirit worships Him with genuine excitement because you know the truth of who He is and the fact that He is so worthy!
From John Piper...
God is most glorified when I am fully satisfied in Him. This should be an absolute focus of my worship, and my worship to God should be non-stop for my entire life. Everything I ever do I should do to honour God and worship Him.
If my wife was to say to me, "I love you so much and I want to spend this night with you because I am so happy any time I get to be with you and share life with you"...if she was to say this to me I would be so incredibly honoured. This is the same attitude we should have toward God in order to worship and honour Him. Just like in this analogy, I get the honour, Brie get's the pleasure, when we worship, we get the pleasure and God get's the honour.
For this reason, if when I worship, there is no emotional response (genuine emotional satisfaction) toward God, then I haven't worshiped Him. And this is not something you can force. If I am truly delighting in the Lord, then that genuine emotional response will occur.
"To live is Christ, to die is gain"
In everything I do, I must do it in a way which glorifies and worships and honours the Lord. This means that everything I do must be done with the purpose of representing the Lord well, doing my best to show just how magnificent He truly is. I will never be able to come close to showing this, but I should always rely on the Lord and His strength to try and get as close as possible in every moment.
When I show Christ to others, that is worship. I can show Christ by showing how he's blessed me and changed me. I can show Christ by acting as He would have me act in each situation. This makes sense. Anyone is honoured when you try and be like them and emulate them. When we strive to become more like Christ and act as He would act and have us act in each and every situation, that is worship.
Therefore, I worship the Lord when I am patient with my wife and children and treat them with nothing but love and tenderness, because this is how Christ treats me and in turn wants me to act. I worship the Lord when I am confident in my job or on the golf course and work my hardest to be the best that I can be with the talents He has blessed me with, because that is how He would act, and have me act. In general, I worship the Lord when I act as He would act in each situation, because I am honouring Him by obeying Him and showing Him that I understand that He is best and is ways are best. And simply put, honour comes when you emulate someone else, and God gets worship when we try to emulate Him.
1. Spirit - your spirit is genuinely enamored by the Lord and as such you worship Him with genuine excitement. As well, the Holy Spirit can come upon you and help you in doing this because the Holy Spirit lives within you.
2. Truth - when you worship God because you know Him, and know that He is absolutely worthy of all praise. Your spirit worships Him with genuine excitement because you know the truth of who He is and the fact that He is so worthy!
From John Piper...
God is most glorified when I am fully satisfied in Him. This should be an absolute focus of my worship, and my worship to God should be non-stop for my entire life. Everything I ever do I should do to honour God and worship Him.
If my wife was to say to me, "I love you so much and I want to spend this night with you because I am so happy any time I get to be with you and share life with you"...if she was to say this to me I would be so incredibly honoured. This is the same attitude we should have toward God in order to worship and honour Him. Just like in this analogy, I get the honour, Brie get's the pleasure, when we worship, we get the pleasure and God get's the honour.
For this reason, if when I worship, there is no emotional response (genuine emotional satisfaction) toward God, then I haven't worshiped Him. And this is not something you can force. If I am truly delighting in the Lord, then that genuine emotional response will occur.
"To live is Christ, to die is gain"
In everything I do, I must do it in a way which glorifies and worships and honours the Lord. This means that everything I do must be done with the purpose of representing the Lord well, doing my best to show just how magnificent He truly is. I will never be able to come close to showing this, but I should always rely on the Lord and His strength to try and get as close as possible in every moment.
When I show Christ to others, that is worship. I can show Christ by showing how he's blessed me and changed me. I can show Christ by acting as He would have me act in each situation. This makes sense. Anyone is honoured when you try and be like them and emulate them. When we strive to become more like Christ and act as He would act and have us act in each and every situation, that is worship.
Therefore, I worship the Lord when I am patient with my wife and children and treat them with nothing but love and tenderness, because this is how Christ treats me and in turn wants me to act. I worship the Lord when I am confident in my job or on the golf course and work my hardest to be the best that I can be with the talents He has blessed me with, because that is how He would act, and have me act. In general, I worship the Lord when I act as He would act in each situation, because I am honouring Him by obeying Him and showing Him that I understand that He is best and is ways are best. And simply put, honour comes when you emulate someone else, and God gets worship when we try to emulate Him.
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