From the Handbook for Successful Living

Dear Friends,

                           Psalm 119:9-16 

I read today a devotion that cited the passage above, and wanted to take the thought and share with the group here.

When my children were growing up, like any other children they liked testing their limits, aka ‘exploring’ to a little child. The whole sensory thing – touching, seeing, tasting, hearing, etc. – is a vital part of a young child’s growth. However, as a parent, I knew that there were things that the children should not experience – things that could prove harmful (even back then there was a movement to give children free rein of their lives – to be ‘free range children,’ which I did not subscribe to!). Harmful things like going under the sink where cleaning products were kept. Touching the stove or fiddling with the knobs. Playing too close to the stairs. And for loving parents the list goes on. I recall only once when I had to truly demonstrate to my children the consequences of a hot stove, which lesson proved beneficial because they never fiddled with a stove again until they were old enough to safely cook – that is another story! I placed physical barriers to certain areas of our home – like guardrails – that were designed as warnings and security tools to keep the children from danger and the very unpleasant consequences of fiddling with things that could damage them. As a parent, being the ‘police’ was exhausting, was not fun, nor was it always a popular thing to do; however, because I love my children, I knew I had to do those things to ensure their safety and protect their lives.

Why, then, do we sometimes expect God to be any different from a loving parent, or would even want Him to be? After all, He is the one who created the capacity for parenthood, and provided the template and instructions. As a loving Parent, He’s not just a provider. Our Father Who Art in Heaven knows all things about us – He can see from the beginning to end and beyond in our lives. He knows every millisecond about us. He knows our needs better than our own human parents. He knows what will make a mess of our lives, what decisions will have never-ending consequences, what impact the things we see and hear will have on us, what impact the people we hang around will have on us, and even knows the number of hairs on our head that we will ever have in this life. (see also Psalm 103:8-19; Psalm 121:8 in conjunction with Deuteronomy 6:24-25 and Jeremiah 29:11-13; Isaiah 55:6-11; Matthew 10:29-31) He has given us the Handbook for Successful Living for this life and beyond. This Handbook, God’s Word the Bible, sets forth guardrails for our success and protection, and like toddlers, we sometimes try to get over them, stamp our feet in defiance, or have a tantrum because we think those guardrails are preventing us from enjoying something good or fun, or popular. When we ignore those guardrails, those protections and guides that God Who Knows All Things has put in place for us – His children – we get into trouble; unfortunately, some of the consequences can last a lifetime, or result in irreparable harm or even death. (compare Galatians 6:7-10)

Please know that when I speak about these things, I’m not talking from a viewpoint of a Pollyanna or as someone just repeating what I have heard. I have seen the ‘back alleys’, and I know the consequences of going against God’s successful way – and please believe me when I say, as the Galatians universal warning above states, the resulting consequences of going against God is no respecter of persons. That is, yes – if you choose to not follow God’s provisions for a successful life, you will have consequences. There are no Teflon people or exceptions to the Galatians rule – none! And I repeat – there are no exceptions. Not even for ‘smart’ persons, church-going persons, or really nice persons. God illustrates that over and over again in His Word as a warning for us. Even His most devoted servant and child David – the same David who believed God and slew the giant, proved that rule to be true: when David chose a course of behavior that rebelled against God’s successful guide for his life – i.e., he ignored, did not find applicable to him – God’s successful guide for sex, David suffered irreparable and devastating damage affecting his family, and his kingdom that he never fully recovered from. Even though God forgave David of his rebellion, David still had to face the very sad consequences of his bad choices; the universal rule did not skip over him. So please, take God’s provisions at Psalm 119 above (and the other scriptures) as His expression of His love for you, instead of something depriving us of fun, or denying us of something that we think feels good, looks good, and that we cannot do without.

 

Oh, what a sad day it is when a person looks back on his or her life and knows that rebelling against God resulted in a life-long difficulty – one that God had wished for us to avoid, and one that grieved Him because He knew the pain and complications we would face. The God Who Sees All Things knew the path our choice would take us – one that caused us great heartache and difficulty. But what rejoicing to know that God forgives us through the blood of Christ, and that because He is the All Powerful God He can use the painful consequence of our bad choice and thoughts, when you and I have repented, to bring about something good! (compare Romans 8:28-39) [Because the Bible is written for each of us, one way to ‘get it’ is by adding our name in place of the first-person pronoun or where the text is being directed generically to a person or persons.]  

May “all these blessings come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God…”; “the Lord bless you, and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.” (Deuteronomy 28:2; Numbers 6:24-26) – hugs. ms jo

 

From the Bucket of "You Know You're a Grandma When"

from the bucket of 'you know you're a grandma when'... I mentioned to the grandkids that I hadn't seen Wizard of Oz in a while. "Ooo" they responded, "can we see it with you?" "Yay!" my heart said knowing I'd get to spend some cool quality time with the young'uns. So we huddle into my work room to all watch it. I'm humming some of the songs. And my grandson is asking questions, and my granddaughte...r is always inquisitive about Judy Garland and wants to know who in the movie is still alive today. So we're all there, and about 1/2 hr into the movie grandson says he has to go fetch something. So we pause the movie until he returns. Then 15 minutes later granddaughter says she'll be right back. So we pause the movie. She returns with her iPod which, after she's reseated herself, she plugs into her ears. My grandson bemoans the fact that his iPod is not charged. He has to go for water or some snack or something. I pause the dvd again. He's back shortly. So the witch has thrown fire at the scare crow, and the tin man is putting it out - you know, the exciting scene before they get close to the Emerald City. Then as they approach the field and are mesmerized by the sights, and the witch says uh unh, and the lion and Dorothy fall down asleep, grandson wants to know what's happening. Granddaughter is bobbing her head up and down listening to her music. Then a short while later - when the flying monkeys arrive, grandson says he has to go fetch something. I didn't pause the dvd this time. Which was just as well, since he didn't return. I think one of his Nick shows was on. Granddaughter did look up every now and then, but the earphones remained firmly plugged in her head. Well, at least she stayed. We remained together through Dorothy's recovery in her own bed, and the infamous "there's no place like home." And as soon as THE END rolled up, granddaughter told me how great it was and glad we could watch it together and rolled out. I now realize why I'm grateful that these modern music videos only last 5 or so minutes because I probably couldn't take much more of those either and would likewise do a bunk on the kiddies. Ahhh, the joys of grandmotherhood!