Just as God fought for the Israelites in Exodus 14 to free them from their bondage to slavery, He will fight to free you from any bondage you are experiencing. You must be willing to move ahead possibly going through the desert to reach the promised land but it will be worth it. God will go before you but He expects you to ask Him to be with you. Don’t get so comfortable in your sin that you want to turn back as the Israelites considered. Keep going forward. God will help you. You need to keep looking to God and staying in touch with Him by praying and reading His Word. It may be hard at times but cry out to Jesus. He will supply what you need to be free. When you feel that freedom, it will be worth it all. The longer you live with Christ and in that freedom, the sweeter and easier it becomes even when we have a battle to fight. It doesn’t always feel easy in the midst of the battle, but each time you make it through, you realize that God sustained you while making you stronger and increasing you faith.
God Wants You To Be Free
God gives you the freedom to choose the life you want. He has desires for you and knows what you can be but He gives you the choice to be what you want. Christ died on the cross for your sins. You have been given to Christ from God. Christ died to forgive you of the sins that you have committed. He died that you can live eternally with Him. He want you to be free. He did not come to condemn anyone.
We think we are free when we are out there doing what we want but we are actually being deceived. There are many things that control us when we are out there pretending to be free. When we feel the freedom that Christ offers us, we will know the difference.
Don’t be afraid of the light. If you allow the light to expose the darkness, you will feel that freedom. God will be glorified in what He can do for you. He will cleanse you and set you free. You will be free to be what God created you to be and that will bring good stuff into your life. You will see life differently. It will be clear to you. You will be able to live in truth and freedom.
All have sinned so don’t be deceived into thinking you have not. There is no one on this earth that has not sinned. It may be the smallest of lies but you are no better off that the one that has committed a “big” sin. Sin will not be allowed to enter heaven. Everyone is in need of a savior and Christ who was without sin is the only one worthy to save you. Don’t be deceived into believing there is any other way.
Don’t be deceived into believing there is a sin that Christ can’t forgive. Christ can and will forgive you of your sin no matter how “big” you think it is. All you need to do is ask Him for the forgiveness. He will in turn ask you to turn from that sin so that it will no longer control you. You will be forgiven just for the asking. He will do more that you can imagine with your life if you put your trust in Him.
Make Satan Sorry
I was laying in bed last night thinking, “I am so tired.” I wasn’t that tired physically but I was tired spiritually. When I got up and the two boys that are still at home were off to school for the day, I still felt tired. I did some daily devotions and prayer and had no energy to attack my “to do” list. I opened my email and my daily email from Mark Gregston at Heartlight Ministries talked about the things you go through with your children and the last line read somewhat like God has not given up on them, why should you? Laying in bed last night I have to admit I felt like it would be nice if I didn’t have to have this battle but I don’t know if I would give up. If it weren’t for parents, who would be fighting and praying for our kids. It would be nice to think others would step in but the passion is never as deep when it hasn’t hit home or it isn’t your children.
Being too tired to attack my “to do” list, I went to the couch which is not what I usually do. I began to ask God “What am I to do?” and “How long will this take?” I asked him for ambition and motivation to do what I needed to do today or at least what I thought I needed to do. I sat there and felt like I should turn the TV on. This is something I hardly ever do. I flipped through the spiritual channels being very selective of my choices. I came upon Beth Moore. It is nice to sit and listen and go to church and listen but if we spend all our time getting fed, we won’t have time left to feed others. I think God knew I needed some time to listen.
Beth mentioned when God restores us from whatever we are called to go through that we become stronger and are used by God in such a way that Satan is sorry that he ever messed with us. I have had many things that I feel God has been calling me to do in the past few years. Some doors have been opened but I am still waiting for the details of the others to be revealed. I feel overwhelmed at times because of so much stuff and a lack of resources. It is hard to be patient and excited at the same time.
I had some energy restored and walked to the barn to feed the animals. Just as I finished, I felt God telling me this and when I got back to the house (about 1000 feet), I was like “WOW”, I literally did not remember walking up the driveway. We hear parents say, “Don’t mess with my kid or you will be sorry!” or “You can mess with me but don’t mess with my child.” This is my claim today that I want Satan to be sorry that he ever messed with my kid. I trust God to help me accomplish that goal.
We all have something that Satan has tried to use to destroy us that God has used for His Glory. Do something for Christ to make Satan sorry he ever messed with you.
Did I accomplish anything today? I don’t know. I guess it depends on how you look at it.
Behavior in Teens
If you have a teenager in your house, their behavior is hard to interpret at times. They may not even understand why they do the things they do. Their behaviors are based on a goal or meeting a need. They don’t always know how to do this appropriately. We as parents have the difficult task of interpreting that need. They may just need to be noticed or loved. They may need comforted for some pain they are feeling that they don’t know how to express or maybe don’t have the desire to express. These can be difficult to deal with because we have to rely on our interpretation and try to stay connected while they often try to disconnect.
One of the most difficult needs to deal with is their need and desire for independence. Some teens are easier than others. Some can be very difficult. They seem to be so determined to accomplish this goal of independence that we don’t know how to deal with their behavior. We want to protect them from bad mistakes but if we hold too tight we will lose them. Proceed with caution and much prayer.
Unfortunately there are no pat answers but be sure to love unconditionally and communicate often. When communicating, make yourself available and listen more than your talk. Do more asking when you speak than telling. Even if they don’t answer out loud, the questions will encourage more productive thought than what we can tell them. Don’t allow their behavior to hinder your thoughts. It helps if you think long and hard and pray before you speak or react.
Relationship or Rules?
We too often expect our children to follow so many rules. We all realize we need some rules but are we over burdening our children with rules. Is that all they see? Can they see beyond the rules to the relationships that are important. We want to have a relationship with our children just as Christ wants to have a relationship with us and our children. We can hinder their relationship with us and with Christ if we don’t keep this in perspective. God has many things to teach us. We may have many more years experience than our children and we may have been walking with God a lot longer but we still have things to learn and God is still teaching. Let’s be teachable.
We can’t expect our children to have the convictions that we have. God has been dealing with us for many years. We must emphasize a relationship and a trust in Jesus and minimize the rule following. We must have some rules that must and should be followed but there are many that will come naturally as their relationship with Christ develops. We must refrain from picking a battle with every conviction that has been placed on our life. God will deal with our children on His terms. It is our job to help nurture that relationship not to dictate how that relationship will unfold. God dealt with us individually, let Him deal with our children in the same way. He knows them better than we do. He created them and knows what plan He has for them. We don’t need to control their every move. God will watch over them and fulfill His purpose.
Children have many pressures at all ages, but especially during their teen years when they want to be independent. We want them to be able to be independent so we need to allow them to make mistakes and allow God to convict them of wrongs. They will grow in their relationship through the love that they receive not by the rules that are forced on them. We don’t need to put extra pressure on them by making them live up to our convictions. Our children don’t have the ability to live at our level over night. Look how long God has been working on us and we still don’t have it right. God is still working on us so let’s allow God the freedom to do what He desires in our children.
If we only give them rules, they will not have the relationship to sustain them when they go out on their own. We want to protect them from the mistakes that we have made but we can’t do that by simply giving them rules. There is no meat behind the rule. If we communicate reasons and relationships and consequences, they will have knowledge to go with the rule. We still do not have the ability to make them follow the rule. Just like the student at the desk when the teacher demanded him to sit. He said, “I may be sitting on the outside but inside, I am still standing.” If that is the attitude our children have, then we have our emphasis in the wrong place.
We must realize, our children will break rules and then should feel the consequences. Those consequences must be realistic and related to their wrong, and administered with love. Ultimately they will desire to follow the rules if the relationship is right so let’s do our part in making the relationship right. It may take a lot of work and time but it will be worth it. Allow God do what we cannot. He can give them the desire to please and to do right. They will fail just as we continue to fail. We must be willing to go to our child when we have failed. Don’t be afraid to apologize. This will let them know that we are not beyond failing and that forgiveness goes both ways. Our heavenly Father forgives us as we should forgive our children. Our Heavenly Father loves us unconditionally as we need to love our children unconditionally. God is better at this parenting thing than us but let’s work at it and ask Him to not only help our children to become all they can be but to help us in this process also. He is in the process of teaching us as well as our children. If we can learn what He is trying to teach us, we may get through this quicker and easier. May God Bless You and Your Children through your obedience.