Terrible 2s

1 Peter 2:1-3 NIV
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Hebrews 5:11-14 NIV
We have much to say about this (obedience), but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.




Caleb, may I have a hug and kiss? No! Caleb is your diaper wet? No! Caleb, it’s time to take a nap. No! Caleb, eat your vegetables. No! Caleb, that’s Bryce’s toy. Mine! Caleb, please don’t bang on the laptop. Mine!

Whether you are raising a boy or a girl, more than likely you have (or had) a toddler who discovered that they had choices. Unfortunately for them, they lack verbal and emotional skills to express their desires causing them to ‘lash out’ in obnoxious temper tantrums and unbearable mood swings. Regardless of the child’s ability to communicate, most parents will not tolerate temper tantrums and/or mood swings. Children are expected to be obedient to the parent’s rules. Most parents enforce compliancy with the hope that their child will be respectful and slowly adapt to expectations. However, most toddlers challenge their parents and struggle making sense of why they are unable to ‘play in dirt, before family pictures’. The child is still learning that the parent has its best interest ‘at heart’. The parent makes decisions based on life lessons. The parent sees the ‘bigger picture’ for their child and, whether the motive is selfish, desires the child to have a wonderful, pain-free life. The parent adores the child and believes that no one possibly can love it more than he/she. Yet the ‘two year old’ is unable to comprehend the loving boundaries. With the combination of parental consistency and child maturity, the child’s behavior will eventually stabilize. The matured child will decide whether it will or will not follow the rules of their parent.

God loves you, the same. He adores you, has your ‘best interest at heart’, makes decisions based out of love, and believes that no one can love you more. Unlike a parent/toddler relationship, God understands it all. He simply desires you to communicate with Him. In your attempts to communicate with Him, He is not going to ‘put you in time out’ or ‘point to every thing, other than what you are talking about’. He understands. He promises to comfort, take away burdens, and relate to you (John 14:15-17). The relationship begins with you. He wants you to spend time with Him (James 4:8). If we choose, we may forever remain spiritual toddlers and consistently fall in elementary areas which He desires us to conquer. ‘Throwing fits’, ‘pointing fingers’, ‘name calling’, speaking negative about our current situation, and repeating the same mistakes are not God’s plan.

In our western society, it is unacceptable for a 10 year old to act like a 2 year old. As Christians, the expectations for believers should be similar. We are to grow with God and conduct ourselves always in a Christ like manner (1 John 2:6). Remembering that our response to Him should always be, ‘Yes!’ because He knows what is best. Also, if He asks of us we should give because it and we belong to Him. We can choose to reject our Heavenly Father and His plan. He will not force Himself upon you, but desires for you to choose His blessing (Deuteronomy 30:19). Just as a parent disciplines their child with hopes, the Lord’s spiritual laws guide us. You cannot reject God’s plan of salvation or any other principle and experience His total blessing. You may be blessed in certain areas, but the peace of God will never be with you (Philippians 4:7). It’s start with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If you reject, you will forever remain in your ‘Terrible 2s’, saying ‘No, No, No’ and ‘Mine, Mine, Mine’ and never realizing your Father’s bigger picture for your life. You must decide!

If you desire to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, please click the link below.

www.cbn.com/spirituallife/BibleStudyandTheology/Discipleship/Steps_to_peace_with_God.aspx

The devil’s a ‘liar’

At age 22, I began to truly think about the direction of my life. I had begun smoking marijuana, which was something that I promised myself I would never do (drugs). Being a collegian athlete made this easy, as there were random drug test discouraging usage. However at this time of my life, my college basketball eligibility was exhausted and there were no barriers from experimenting. Also, I was dating several women with no intentions of marrying. My life had become out of my control. I was addicted to a destructive lifestyle with intentions to change, but no power or concrete motivation to do so. I began consistently reading the Bible; however, I didn’t change or make a practice to change any habits leading to the aforementioned issues. I was reading and learning Bible verses, but I was not practicing (Matthew 7:26). For a season, it made me feel better about myself. However, God was dealing with me about making a commitment to live a Christ-like lifestyle... to die to myself. Meaning giving Him my life and asking for his deliverance, while walking in faith to be healed (changed) and obedience. As I got closer to making a decision to follow Christ, the adversary of God noticed. He was not going to allow my decision to be easy.

The devil is the ruler of this world. He has spiritual influence over anyone who has not committed their life to Jesus Christ as Lord (Ephesians 6:12). Therefore, I allowed him to control my life due to my lack of commitment and unwillingness to obey.

I met a young lady that I felt ‘heads over heels’ in love. In the midst of this dating relationship, I forgot about engaging in following Christ, but instead, got engaged to be married. I graduated from college, started graduate school, landed a decent job, and stopped smoking marijuana. In the sight of others, my life was changing for the better. I was becoming a good person. All the while, there was a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach indicating otherwise. I knew exactly what it was, but didn’t have the courage to humble myself and follow God. I was sleeping with my fiancée with an unrepentant heart. Although, I enjoyed the benefits of sex; it was eating at me- big time! I knew that it was contrary to the lifestyle that I was verbally confessing following. So instead of dealing with the matter, I lied to myself. “God, the only thing that I have read in the Bible that I’m struggling with is sex before marriage. Surely, you understand and do not want me to go with out.”

Instead of repenting, I excused myself to perform a natural act that was/is common among those in a committed relationship. The devil has spiritual influence over anyone who has not committed their life to Jesus Christ as Lord. The natural, yet spiritual act that didn’t involve the blessing of God gave the devil a ‘window of opportunity’. His opportunity was not through my act, but my unwillingness to accept Jesus Christ as Lord of my life. My continuous act of disobedient without asking for His sincere help to change was my faith confession. As time passed, I realized that I was ‘out of control’ (again) with a whole new vigor and better yet, I was involving someone.

To make a long story short, I eventually snapped (literally) with this tale peaking at the ultimate ‘I will never do’ of physically harming a loved one. Better yet, I felt righteous and unashamed in my act. When the consequences of losing the relationship were a reality, I immediately felt to my knees in repentance crying out to God. Knowing that the heart of my problem was my unrepentant and uncommitted heart, I was selfishly ashamed. Thinking that I could walk with Christ, while allowing sin in my life, was a lie. I believed it! The belief in the ‘lie’ led me into a ‘deeper sea’ of sin.

Nevertheless, God is faithful. After true, heartfelt repentance, He forgave me (Romans 8:28).

The moral of this life lesson is ‘don’t believe the hype’! The world is full of specialists and experts telling you how to live your life. If any of the information you are receiving is contrary to the Word of God (Bible), you are being deceived. The longer I live, the more I realize, that God means exactly what He says. He loves and desires for you to have a fulfilling, successful, and prosperous life (Jeremiah 29:11). All His words are design that you may live a righteous life (2 Timothy 3:16). If you believe that your ungodly action (sin) is being overlooked, you are on the path to destruction (Luke 12:2-3).

The purpose of this specific blog is to encourage you to repent of your sin and ask God for his immediate help through Jesus Christ. Learn from my mistake. Deal with your sin, repent now, and flourish in God’s will.

Philippians 2:5-11
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus… he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross… Wherefore God… highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

‘To the glory of God the Father…’ bow now and receive the blessing of salvation and prosperity.

If you desire to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, please click on the link below.

http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/BibleStudyAndTheology/Discipleship/Steps_to_Peace_With_God.aspx