I don’t know about you however, during these uncertain times when we have perhaps been challenged by the way we live, think, act and feel, asking myself am I living as a child of the light? Perhaps we have thought more about our priorities in life and want to reconfigure, maybe we have allowed fear and uncertainty to gain a grip.
Dare I say it, that for some we have not sought God or His word and allowed the world’s thoughts, behaviours or attitudes to gain a hold? I am sure we have all been challenged; I have personally been challenged during this time of lockdown with covid-19. There have been times when I know I have got a bit angry, frustrated and a bit selfish, nevertheless with God’s grace I am being challenged and changed. How fabulous to have the Holy Spirit work within us, to bring us into alignment with His word and to walk as children of the light.
Ok, so where do we start, well the best place is in the bible, God’s living word. During this past week I have been reading the YouVersion bible in a year plan. I was really challenged by Ephesians 4 and its scriptures.
I have highlighted below the words that really had an impact on me. When I read verse 14 being tossed etc, wow it was so impactful those word it shook me to the core. It’s not the passage about wrong teaching etc; it was about my behaviours being not in alignment with God or His word. You know what I felt a little sick and I had to ask for forgiveness and allow the Holy Spirit to work within and change me the person He has designed me to be.
Let’s look at Ephesians 4 and the specific scriptures below, attention being paid to the bold writing;
Eph 4 2~4 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.
Eph 4 14~16 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
So where do we begin, well firstly we need to recognising our behaviour patterns, pray and allow the Holy Spirit to change us.
Let’s use the following story to hopefully illustrate what I am getting at and that is we ought to recognise and change negative behaviour and thought patterns.
As we walk through our own pathways in life, we collect stories, sayings and experiences and build our lives on them. They serve as a memory bank and a reference library that stores data, principles and situations which help us handle various situations by comparing them to past references and drawing up comparisons and conclusions. These references generally determine our behaviour patterns and usually relate to our accepted and normal way of doing, seeing, thinking and understanding our world.
Once we recognise our own negative behaviour patterns and how we react to some situations, and recognise the effect they have upon us and we make a conscious effort to change, we have at that moment taken the first step towards a better life for ourselves.
Unload the burdens from your past and take positive steps towards your future
This is a story of an old man and a young boy who lived long ago. The old man was named Thomas and the young boy named Simon. Simon was an orphan, who made his way from village to village in search of food, shelter and a dry place to sleep. However, more than that Simon was searching for something else ~ a reason.
Why he wondered do we travel throughout our lives in search of something we cannot find? Why must things be as difficult as they are? Do we make them ourselves, or is it meant to be that we should struggle as we do?
These were wise thoughts for a young boy. Travelling on the road one day and contemplating on his thoughts, he came across an old man named Thomas who was travelling the same road, and whom Simon thought would be able to help him with an answer or two.
The old man was carrying on his back a large, covered, woven basket that appeared to be very heavy especially for someone as old and weary as he. To Simon it looked as though the old man carried all his worldly goods in that one basket.
Simon offered to carry the basket however the old man politely refused. “What is in the basket Simon asked”? “It is nothing you can carry for me” the old man said. “This is something I must carry for myself and added one day you will walk your own road and carry a basket as weighted as mine”.
Over many days and months the old man and Simon walked many miles together and Simon would ask many questions about why man must toil as they do. However Simon did not learn anything from the old man. Sometimes late at night Simon pretended to be asleep and would lay their quietly listening and watching the old man sort through the contents of his basket. In the morning the old man as always would say nothing.
It was only when the old man could walk no more, and lay down for the last time that he told young Simon of his secret. In their last few hours together, he gave Simon not only the answer to the riddle of the basket he carried, but the answer to why men toil as they do.
“In this basket,” Thomas said, “are all of the things I believe about myself which were not true. They are the stones that weighed down my journey. On my back I have carried the weight of every pebble of self-doubt, every grain of the sand of uncertainty, and every millstone of misdirection I have collected on my life’s journey. Without these I could have gone so far. I could have lived the life of dreams I saw in my mind. But with them I have ended up here, at the end of my journey.” With that the old man closed his eyes and quietly went to sleep for the last time.
Simon gently took the basket off the old mans back and placed it on the ground. Later that day he untied each of the cords that held the woven cover in place, and lifted the lid off. Perhaps because he had been looking for an answer to his own question, he was not surprised by what he found inside.
The basket, which had weighed down the old man for so long, was empty.
The significance of this story is not complicated. The old man had allowed himself to stay within his comfort zone, he held within himself the perceptions of others about himself which was internally justified and he reacted to others outwardly as a person without purpose and hope.
By moving out of your comfort zone in manageable steps and conquering your inner self, your outer self will project a more confident person; you will develop a more meaningful purpose in life and become a master of your own destiny.
Take the time to step out of your comfort zone and make a significant difference
Answer the following:
What are your stones that are holding you back?
What are your pebbles of self-doubt?
What are your grains of sands of uncertainty?
What are your millstones of misdirection?
As a Christian also ask yourself;
What resistance do you find in your life that hinder the work of the Holy Spirit?
….. Such as; anger, frustration, lack of confidence, worry, do it my way, James 1:22~25, etc
What aspects do you consider that the Holy Spirit must change in you?
Listen to the video below, then carry carry on and be challenged.
Thoughts for the future and looking at essential behavioural standards for Christians
As Christians we are not under the Law of Moses, and we cannot be saved by any law, even the commandments of the New Testament. But Christianity does have behavioural standards. It does involve changes in the way we live. It does make demands on our lives. We are to live for Christ, not for ourselves (2 Corinthians 5:15). God is our God, our priority in everything, and he has something to say about the way we live
1 Thessalonians 5: 12~22 provides a list of behavioural standards for Christians;
Live in peace with each other….
Warn those who are idle,
encourage the timid,
help the weak,
be patient with everyone.
Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong…
always try to be kind….
Be joyful always;
pray continually;
give thanks in all circumstances…
Do not put out the Spirit’s fire;
do not treat prophecies with contempt.
Test everything.
Hold on to the good.
Avoid every kind of evil.
Rem; Psalm 119:105 Thy Word Is a Lamp Unto My Feet and Light Unto My Path “Walk in the light so you, your behaviours, your attitude and your faith will light the path for others to follow and lead them to the ultimate light Jesus.”
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Removing Barriers Releasing Potential 