Our SLIDING SLIPPERY Scale of SIN

My little boy to the far left, on the BIG slide at the State Fair w/ his cousin who is in the lead !

I started considering the sliding, escalating scale of sin the other day when I was telling my husband what I was making for dinner. I am not a gourmet cook by any means, pretty simple and basic is what I do best, and I try to make everything healthy ...unlike my husband who could care less if something is healthy.

He just likes to eat, no fuss about it.

I always fuss about it being healthy, while he mainly just stares at me with an annoyed look.

Don't care, I'm going to make him eat healthy if it kills him to do so, figuratively speaking of course. 

So, I was in the backyard, about to take our looney-tune killer of a black lab for her nightly walk, and I stopped him as he was going into his workshop. I said, " I have some chicken breasts, I am going to make them on the stove with some onion and garlic, celery, spices, and then baked sweet potatoes, and some steamed broccoli , to go with it. "
Very healthy.

He looks at me and goes ' OK. "

No excitement, but not unpleasant...just OK.

I then look back at him and and say, " Oh...and I'm making some brownies for dessert. "

That cheered him up, he smiled , and walked off.

As we were eating later, I told him on my walk ....I always think about lessons God teaches me, insights He shows me...always on my walks.

I told him , as we were eating our healthy meal together, I told him that what I said....about all the stuff we were going to get to eat...that it was healthy and good for us...and that since we were doing so good in that way...that we could throw a little sin , or brownies at the end ( by the way I do NOT think brownies are sinful, just an analogy )...and we would still be doing or eating good.

Adding to our lives by eating or rather by doing GOOD.

Balancing the scale of good and bad.

Then just a smidgen of bad ,like the brownies, won't hurt us.

He just looks at me and raises his eyebrow. Like, " What have you been up to ?"

I tell him that we ALL, everyone of us has that unfounded, unbiblical notion, that God has a giant scale, and he weighs and balances our lives and our actions, and that if He thinks the good outweighs the bad that we are doing..

then we slide into heaven and gain His pleasure still.

Some people may consider areas of their lives that they are doing spectacular in, where we believe God is giving us a nod of approval...and then turning a blind eye to our behavior He does not approve of. Some people just believe that if the good always outweighs the bad, then they'll slide right into heaven, get a bunch of jewels in their crown, and God will say , " Well done, good and faithful servant. "

Sort of how we judge our fellow man, we know them, we know their faults and their good points, and we can say often that the good outweighs the bad.

I guess the problem that I see, or wonder about, is sometimes the bad is much ' heavier' , heavier to God than we realize. Also sin is a very , very slippery little monster...it appears in subtle ways, it can become insidious or innocuous,  a very tricky element that is in this world that can destroy us , our careers, our families, our souls.

The big problem here is we humans, we have not got a clue about how God judges our actions, our lives. We think we do, but when you really try to figure it out...I think we believe He judges us how we judge ourselves and each other. 

I'm not a betting woman, but I bet we're probably wrong.

I know from painful past experiences of myself and others , that sometimes that second serving of cake, that second glance, that second flirtatious comment, that second ignoring of a need of a loved one, that second ignored warning in our conscience, that second spreading of some salacious gossip, that second lie we tell...so many seconds that we hesitate and do the wrong thing.
Many people do not stop at seconds either.

Choices to sin or not to sin.

The Bible is not a book that is about being a perfect Christian , or a perfect person. As that is unattainable. But it does give direction for our lives, it does give clear directions and crystal clear blunt warnings as well.

I know I have ignored some ( many ), of those explicit warnings before, as my own sliding scale of measuring my own sin...has made me turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to God's word.

The thing that I am slowly, and I mean verrrryyyy slowly , starting to learn is that all that is written in the Bible,

All of it,

is simply God teaching us about living a good life, an honorable life, a ' pure in heart ' life.

All of it is because He loves us, more than we can ever comprehend. 

A huge lesson I learned a few years ago, and it is a lesson that I still have not grasped hold of with proper enthusiasm or conviction is :

" If your happiness comes at the expense of someone else's  happiness, then you will not have true joy."

The big clincher here is, whether that person knows about it ( our sin ), or not.

That does not matter. 

Wish someone had told me that when I was very young , not that TRUTH , prevails in our  hearts or minds anyway.
Life is usually all about ' Me " for most of us anyway...I know it has been for myself.
Working on changing that daily.

We are all a stubborn lot aren't we ?

I hope you have a good day, I hope you consider your own slippery scale , and I hope you know God loves you more than anyone ever could,

Many blessings,

Gina

Me and my love bug swinging at the zoo

" But he who does the truth comes to the light , that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they be done in God. " John 3:21

Being Held PRISONER at a BASEBALL Field CANTEEN

I will start this out by saying that I love baseball. I love to watch it, I love to see my little boy and all his teammates in their uniforms out there playing, and the men that I love love baseball too. One is in his fifties, the other in his nothings or rather age 9.

My saga begins with explaining that my son plays little league ball, and that means that the moms of the boys usually have to undergo torture for about two times a season , we are forced to do canteen duty.
By torture I mean we are contained, held hostage on some stools, forced to wait on anyone who comes to our little windows, forced to be far from the ones we want to be close to.

Not the men typically, just us moms.

Whenever I know I have my turn coming up, I dread it, mainly because I adore watching my little boy play ball. Love it. When I work the canteen, I cannot see him . All I can see, is him in the distance...and usually I am not even positive it is him as he is so far away. Last week , I had a nice mom of another player call me and ask if I could switch places with her that week ( for canteen duty ).

I said, " Sure. "

Then I began considering my captivity that would begin in another 6 hours or so.

Started to dread it. Everyone is nice when we are back there , held captive, prisoners in the canteen...
But..

But I do not like not being close enough to see my son.

But I knew that is where I needed to be, they needed me.
Then my time came.

I got to the field, watching everyone pass by me to go to the playing fields, and then glanced up at my prison that was waiting for me..

The CANTEEN.
I made my feet walk in that direction instead of the fields, went through the back door...

I  said hello to everyone, perched myself up on my stool, leaned out towards my little window...

and started pouting..only INSIDE...no one could see it from the outside.

I was doing my DUTY.

My obligation for the team, for my son.
But I was most definitely a pout-puss inside .

I would get up every now and again to get some little cutie-pie that came to my window some fries, candy or a drink. Then longingly look out to the far field, as I my son always plays on the far field whenever I have this prison sentence...every time.

So I cannot see him.

I lean forward, strain to see him..get annoyed...but still only inside as I have a happy face for my little customers and their dads.

Now I know I am not alone, I would say about 60-70 % of the moms do not like canteen duty , there are a few that enjoy sitting back there chatting...but the majority are simply putting in their time, doing their duty , their obligation.
My husband came up there to get some popcorn 3/4 into the game, talked with me a bit , discussed baseball plays with a woman on the stool adjoining mine ...I can't understand most of what goes on out in the field when I am directly in front of it anyway, but I like to be close to the ones I love,
and I can't be when I am BEING HELD PRISONER in this darned canteen !!

Finally the game is over, and the cutie-pies come running up to our windows with all their complicated orders, dads trying to give me correct change, dirt all over these kids , and then I see the most handsome face in the world pop up in my window..

Here it is

It is the face of my little boy, big eyes looking at me, smiling, ordering his french fires, red Gatorade, and fun-dips. I smile back at him, he asks if I saw all the different plays he made, I tell him I can't see anything from here, just glimpses...but I did see him one time on third base before he scored.
That seemed to satisfy him , and he walked off to eat his food.
I was watching the clock, waited on some more last stragglers coming to the stand, and it was getting late as we were the last game. So by 8:45 I was released from bondage by the short -order cook, walked out in the dark to my husband and son. 
I asked my little boy if he wanted to ride home with me or his dad ? He choose me, and we hopped in and drove out of the park.
While I was driving, I asked him about the game, told him again that I was sorry I could not see it or him.
He was quiet.
Then I asked him if he liked me working in the canteen, he responded back as if I was a complete idiot,
" YES. ", with the definite infliction on the word as if how on earth would I not know he liked me working back there ? 
It was cool.
To him.
I smiled driving home, thought of all the things, obligations, duties, we humans do , out of care and love for others,
and not out of any desire on our parts.
I am striving to do those things with a better INWARD attitude and not just an outward ' happy face '. 
Because when you really love someone, Really love them, it needs to be an inward action as well.

I hope that God shows you how important you are today, how you are needed in the very small insignificant actions in your life, times you overlook, times you may not appreciate.
Times no one tells you that you are appreciated. 
Pray to God for encouragement and strength. 
I hope you know who you are important to.
Remember you are needed, remember you are important to those that love you , remember to do whatever you do as to the LORD and not to man.
Remember you are loved.
Many blessings to you , I hope your day is overflowing,
Gina

" But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing., that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly . " Matthew 6:3-4 

Discipline vs the BULL in the FIELD

Watch out

When I was a young girl in Texas, I used to visit my grandparents in Bandera, Texas quite often. I had two sets there, my well-off set, and my much less well-off set. One lived in a very nice, well -decorated expensive home, ...and the other set lived out in the country in a small wood house . I loved them all very much, but always preferred to spend the night out in the small country house with the tin roof, and the large acres of land and Hills in the distance.

 My grandfather, Papa, had some sheep and chickens, a few cows roaming around in a fenced off area beside the house....plus there was a small barn/chicken house/food shed combo to the far end of the area.
I would get the feed and help him feed all his animals.

That small barn was directly in front of another fenced off area, leading to vast acres of pastures.

That is where I chose to be very disobedient.

Happily.

Smugly.

Secretly.

I went in one day when my grandmother was cooking something in a giant iron skillet on the stove. I asked her about the cows in the big open field behind the small barn back there. I thought they maybe were their cows, I was about 9-11 years old . She wiped her hands on her apron, looked at me...by the way...she was one TOUGH-cookie of a woman, and said, " Those are our neighbor's cows, but don't go over there as there is one mean BULL in that field. "

Well, apparently that was all it took,

for my first big un-disciplined moment to take flight.

I said , "Ok. "

Turned, went flying ( I was always running when I was young ), hit the back screen door hard ,  running out to the field.

Then I went to the back wire fence behind the shed, I cannot recall if it had barbed wire, most of their property did, but I do recall that it did not seem to matter to me.

Gina was going to do what Gina WANTED to do.
No matter.

Which meant climbing that fence, and laying down in the soft , tall grass, and watch the cows in that field.

No matter that someone who knew better than me warned me, no matter that I knew she loved me and was a very smart woman.

No Matter.

I do recall her warning, but the pull of the field called me softly, it was a Texas wind blowing...a sunny day...and I climbed that fence fast...and went and laid down behind the shed in the grass.
I deliberately laid behind the shed so they could not see me from the house.

You know how children lay in the grass, no care about getting dirty, no care what will crawl in their hair...so I remember distinctly, laying back with my arms behind my head, looking up through the limbs of a small tree,

Up in to the beautiful sky.

I told myself to remember this moment, I have always done that since I was even younger ( and still today ), and I was blissfully happy.

And SMUG.

I knew my grandmother could not see me back here, it was a cool, secret spot that was mine and  I could do what I wanted and not be seen.

I was one cool kid.

Then her words came back to me.

One MEAN Bull.
Now for my tough grandmother who once killed a barn rat with one hand while she was milking... ( kept milking and then shook him out of her overalls)...and barn rats are as big as some cats...then I knew he really had to be REALLY mean.

So I looked up at the field, with one eye open...as I was still in my blissful moment...and guess what ?

There he was , a pretty good distance away from me...grazing.
Then he stopped and looked up at me.
I sat up a little straighter, opened both eyes...and looked at him too.
Small warning signals were going off in my young brain, but I did not move, get scared...or run and jump the fence to safety behind me.
Nope.
I sat and watched that bull for a few minutes, looked around at the field we were in...and then got cocky and laid back and closed my eyes.
A few minutes went by, I opened one eye again , and looked back at him.
He was a little closer this time.
Still, young and dumb , laid back and closed her eyes again.
No matter.

I then opened my eyes,  looked up at the beautiful big sky and clouds, glanced back at him ... now he was grazing a little closer now to me. I was still a good distance from him , and for some reason , I do not recall...( probably God ), I got up, brushed the grass off me, smiled at the bull and jumped the fence back to definite safety.
I think often about that bull in the field, because I struggle with discipline, discipline in doing EXACTLY what God instructs us to do in almost all circumstances in life. He tells us in un-compromising clarity, do this, don't do that.
Stay away from this, reach for that instead.
Run to the safety of His protection.
He knows what is good for us, he only wants what is best for us.
But I know there are things in my life that remind me of that bull.
Things or situations I get close to , things I KNOW God tells me to stay away from, fields ( sins ), I should stay OUT of.
So when I remember that time in my life, and I can still see that bull in my mind , God seems to want me to remember it , for the lesson it can teach me.
To not even CONSIDER the thought of ' jumping over a fence '.

The lesson of listening to God, to strive to be a much more disciplined Christian.
To study and learn what He says for all our lives.

To learn to completely, absolutely and resolutely TRUST Him.

I need to know deep in my heart and soul that God truly, really,  knows what is best.
I hope your day is good, I hope you can stay away from the ' bulls' in your life , I hope you
 Don't jump that fence for God's sake alone.

Bless you,
Gina



" Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. " Psalm 119:105

SHOWDOWN at the TARGET Corral

Me and my son's favorite store

A few weeks ago, my little boy came up to me on a Saturday morning, stands at a distance from me..and asks , " Can we go to Target ?'.

This was unusual for him, he goes if I ask him, but he typically does not ask me. I ask, " Why ?'

He looks down at his Superman wallet in his hand, fingers through his dollars, and asks if he can go buy a giant Nerf gun he found in the Target Christmas catalog.I had seen him rifling through that little catalog, with all the coupons for weeks...and I told him he does not need anything because his birthday and Christmas are very soon.

He is turn explains that he has enough money, exactly 35.00 to buy a GIANT nerf gun , can he pleeaassee ?

I debated with him that 35.00 is alot of money, especially for an 8 year old.

Then I sat there and looked at him, think I am going to say No again, then decide I will take him and his superman wallet full of cash to get his treasure.

I know God gives me things when I do not really need them, so I can allow this too , I surmise.

I tell him to go cut out his 5.00 coupon out of the catalog , for the correct gun...and we take off with all that we needed.

NOT.

As I found out, but let me explain the process.

We get to Target, it is one of our favorite stores that seems to have everything any one or twenty people can ever need or want. We head back to the back of the store and the toy department. 

The we see it, the Largest Full-Auto Nerf Blaster Vulcan EBF-25.

The treasure of a 8 year old

The box is almost 3 feet long, heavy and we did not have a cart so we both carried it all the way to the front of the store. Stand in line, place it on the counter...my little boy is getting more excited. The cashier rings it up, tells us it is 39.95. I look at my son, tell him to hand her his 5.00 off coupon. He reaches in his wallet, pulls it out, hands it to her...she scans it. Over and over she scans it.

Zilch.

Nada, nothing.

No discount.

She looks at it again, and calls a manager. They look at it and go , " Oh, you cut the numbers off under the bar code. " 

I look at the coupon , look at my son, and tell then we will be back.

He almost starts crying, I reassure him the whole way home...no problem...we will find the numbers, tape them on..and get back today to buy it.

We get home, rummage through the trash..I do scold him a little for cutting off the numbers but only to make him aware of it so he won't do it again. It was so tiny, but we tape it back on...he is all smiles..and we head back to Target.

We go back in, get a cart this time...and head back to get another gun. We load that big thing in a cart, smiling ...we head back to the cashier.

We have his gun, we have his cash and his coupon !

All is perfect.

Not.

The cashier pulls the large nerf gun through, my little boy hands her is coupon...his superman wallet is open with his little fingers ready to hand her all his cashola...when the horrible words came...after she ran the coupon.

" This won't work." 

By this time a man comes behind us in line , I mildly smile at him but he then gets the pleasure  of hearing me tell her she better get her manager.

Dreaded words no one likes to hear the person in front of you say in line.

My son was getting his discount from their stupid coupon if it was the last thing I did that day.

A manager is called, she gets there, runs the coupon while I explain to her about this being our second trip, all the trouble, etc. The manager runs the coupon, the man starts getting a little antsy behind me...and she goes,
" We can't use this, the very last TINY number is missing, it is invalid. "

I told her, " No way, " nodded my head at my little boy , still holding open his Superman wallet...and said , " He is getting his 5.00 off. "

The manager then gets a bit huffy ( can't imagine why ), and says there is nothing she can do.

I get equally huffy...tell her I am POSITIVE she can, ask her if she has a code she can use, ask her if she has any catalogs in the back with more coupons ? She just stands there and says, " Nope. " 

By this point the man behind me wants to give me the 5.00...I hold up my hand and say . "No, thanks."

I then turn to the manager and ask to speak to a manager. She retorts SHE is the manager.

I then get huffier and ask to speak to HER manager, the head store manager. 

During all this last huffiness, the cashier is rummaging through her drawer in front of her, picks up a CATALOG, cuts out the coupon and uses it for the sale.

I stood there in disbelief, the WHOLE time this cashier has a catalog.

My son hands over his 35.00, the man behind me gets a little happier, and I help my little boy carry it...but only half-way to the car,  as he was showing shoppers how strong he was to carry this giant gun.

I get in the car with a smiling 8 year old boy, and I tell him," You know what lesson that should teach you ?'

He says, " Be careful clipping coupons . "

I say yes, but also do not be AFRAID to stand up for what is RIGHT in this world. Do not back down , that God gives us power through the Holy Spirit , to stand strong for what is right.

He just looks down at his gun and smiles.

At home with his awesome gun

 

I'll bet also when we head back to Target they will see me coming and turn on the red lights in the back office area...Red alert..here comes Trouble.

Such is life.

I hope you have courage to always stand up for what's right, and always stand up for ' The little guy ' in this world who cannot stand up for himself.

God is our enabler, Jesus is our advocate.

Many blessings,

Gina

" And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, the He may abide in you forever--

The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither knows Him; for He dwells with you and will be in you. "

John 14:16,17

This ' DYING to SELF ' is about To KILL Me

In the Bible, where it says," I affirm , by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, die daily." 1 Corinthians 15:31, made me again feel like I am missing the mark as a Christian.

We are supposed to die to our present lives, our sinful nature , and become more Christ-like. That means being less selfish ( guilty), less concerned with my needs over other's needs ( guilty ), and being a servant to our fellow man ( guilty ). It also means that we are supposed to put aside our wants and desires, even ' needs' , and allow God to show us what is best for us.

That made me think of our beautiful, goofy dog and her chocolate-chip muffin obsession.

 

Every school day morning I make my son chocolate chip muffins ( I sneak an egg & milk in them as he won't touch either normally), and I put them in his lunch box with his lunch. Every morning our black lab stands there and watches me and hopes quite earnestly, that THIS is the morning I will accidentally drop a muffin,

So she can eat it.

She has done this for 4 years straight.

No dropped muffins, but that does not deter her yet.

She just looks at me, waiting.

Just like we do with God, waiting for our prayers to be answered.

Now I know she does not NEED that muffin, she only THINKS in her little brain that she needs it...but she wants it SO bad...and I just look at her and know that I am not going to give her one. She looks at me while I'm stirring the batter, she looks at me while I put them in the pan, she looks at me when the timer goes off and they are ready.

She looks , hopes, and DROOLS.

She has no idea that they are NOT necessary for her life, they are not good for dogs, I have something better for her soon...she wants them NOW.

She NEEDS them. 

 

Just like we look to God.

We are like that , we want what we want when we see it, think about it, and we do not understand why GOD does not give it to us.

Now some things , sinful things, we KNOW why He does not allow us to grasp...or if we do , then He speaks to us in that still small voice, " Stop, turn back, that is not necessary for your happiness or your life. "

But many of us, still kicking and screaming ( or whining ), say back to God,

" But this or that is IMPORTANT, NECESSARY, I NEED it. "

Just like my dog , we do not understand WHY ?

But some things that are not sinful, simply OUR dreams and hopes, our needs...He allows to either put on hold or allow to never happen. 

That predicament can cause us to not trust God, not know for certain that He hears us.

 We also can ignore God if we cannot mentally figure out why He wants us to do something other than what we want to do or not do.

Jesus explains it to His disciples:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." John 12:24-25

So we are supposed to put aside, place in second , our hopes, dreams and desires and let God's glory be paramount.

To do this, we have to learn, through reading the Bible and lots of prayer, that God's plan for our lives is far superior to our plans.

His vision, far superior than ours.

His purpose is far superior than our own comfort,

as the development of our character, to be more like Him,

will bring us the greatest joy ,

eventually.

Our timeline, is usually not God's timeline, and that is where the trust factor comes into play.

Trusting God has always been a big challenge for me. I am a stubborn, strong-willed woman who does not want anyone in charge of my life but me.

Even God.

That mindset has to change if I am to grow into the Woman God wants me to be,

That He knows I can be.

That He can use.

I just need to die to self daily, bite my tongue more, put other's needs above my own more, and watch for more opportunities to bless. Saying that, is easier to say than to do. The easier thing to do in most circumstances is to take care of yourself first, to oftentimes NOT put others needs before yours.

Selfishness, ME-mentality reins in the World.

Gonna shake myself up and out of that pattern.

I will write more about my attempts to learn to trust God in other articles,

I hope you grow in your spiritual journey and learn more about God this week,

Blessings,

Gina

Miss Spoiled rotten Black Lab

 

" Living for Jesus a life that is true, Striving to please Him in all that I do; Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free, This is the pathway of blessing for me. "

Hymn by Thomas O. Chisholm

early 1900's 

Of SPINNING Dogs & SELF-Discipline

I have a spinning dog named Maxine. She is an out of control, undisciplined, spinning dog.

She is a large black lab, my husband adores her, our son considers her his best friend/com padre'...and I am her baby-sitter-mom most days. When I take her for her walks, early evening usually...she takes the leash and runs in every yard for the first block....

and spins,

 

Taking the leash and spinning, out of control in circles... 2-3 minutes at a time

Getting ready for another spin

In our next door neighbor's yard...our little cowgirl dog

Neighbors comment and laugh at her, people driving by laugh at her, she looks like a rodeo cowgirl dog, spinning in circles...whipping her leash the entire time along with her.

Not only does she spin, she DRAGS me down the street, for blocks. Yes I do have a choke on her...and let me tell you, I use it. She is just so darned happy all the time, that she doesn't care. She probably only weighs about 20 lbs. less than me, and it is a major feat to control her. I am one of those people you see that the neighbors say, " Who's walking who ?" hahaha, NOT.

 

My son trying to hold her back

She not only spins and drags me, she also tries to fight any dog we run into...10 lbs. to 130 lbs., they are all the same to her. I usually have to choke her ( use the choker ), hold her back, apologize to people for her behavior, get physically on top of her & scold her, she COULD care less, she is happy being out of control and undisciplined.

Kind of like we all are, right ?

We all have areas we are undisciplined, mine are too numerous to name, I will just name the areas I AM disciplined to save time. I am disciplined about what I eat, and exercise.

That's it.

Everything else is a battle royale.

Food is not a huge deal to me, exercise is...so those are pretty easy areas for me.

 As another example , I am disciplined to a greater extent what I watch in the media, but I don't like TV, and am disappointed ( and fed up ) ,in what I see in movies lately...so it is easier being disciplined in something that really does not hold much interest to me.

It is way easier being disciplined about something that you do not really care about , or that you have come to a conclusion about personally that you do not struggle with anymore.

It is those OTHER areas, that test us.

I think we are tested with finances for some, shopping habits for some, saving habits for some , exercise habits for some, eating habits for some, worship habits, study habits, work habits & ethics, internal morality habits or integrity. I mean many of these are a piece of cake to many...and then they fail miserably in some other key areas of life.

I know I do.

 

Being dragged

I know that just being 'somewhat' disciplined in some areas, but not all the really important ones (like kindness, loving your neighbor, integrity, honesty, self-sacrifice, fearing God, tithing ,etc. ),   means failing in the self-control department.  Being a Christian means I need to be disciplined...GRATEFULLY disciplined in almost ALL areas.

God does not expect perfection from us, but He does expect us to strive for it. 

Otherwise we just get slack, start spinning out of control in areas of our lives that are our weak ones.

Obedience is HUGE to God , we do it out of respect for Him, and to demonstrate we understand the fear ( respect, reverence ), of Him.

He knows what is best for us, He loves us.

I love my crazy dog. I do what I do to protect her, to TRY to discipline her, I see what can happen to her if she does not behave...if she gets too out of control ( regularly), and if she misbehaves she can hurt herself or some other dog.

I see this, she does not. 

God sees the end result of our undisciplined, out of control lives before we even make the first mistake.

Cannot get the leash out of her mouth most of the time

I know God has given us the spirit of self-control ( self discipline ), but I think we all fail to use it in areas harder for us,  because it is easier ( or more fun ), to be undisciplined, do what we ' feel' like, do  ' whatever'  tomorrow instead of today, work on that bad habit ' soon', just basically slack off in the self-control department.

Especially in today's world, with all the temptations, all the excitements, all the 'newest things',  too many opportunities , we have a very hard time being disciplined about lots of things. Things that lead us away from God.

I also know that God tells us that if we have a relationship with Him, we will get the fruits of the spirit:

" But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, SELF-CONTROL. " Galatians 5:22

So if we want to develop it more, we have to grow more in our relationship with Him.

We have to listen to Him, come to the realization that He really DOES know what is best for us. That He has equipped us to stand firm against the world, against our own flesh ( our desires ). 

Again this is something very hard for me to come to grips with personally, I like to make my own decisions , come up with my own solutions to situations or problems. I don't want anyone to be my boss or my keeper.

Even God.

But I do know something more important than that.

I KNOW that I need God. I KNOW that He can equip me to do the right thing in all  circumstances. I KNOW He expects this of me.

I know I love Him and do not want to disappoint Him.

I just need to stop being more like my crazy black lab , spinning around oblivious to anyone else

and discipline myself in my weak areas...

for me,

my family ,and

my God .

 

I hope you have a great day, and have strength where you need it,

Gina

" Never tire of doing what is right. " 2 Thessalonians 3:13