Choice and consequence is an incredibly large part of our lives, yet we don’t hear too much about it. We hear so much about God’s grace, forgiveness and mercy which are absolutely amazing and I’m very glad that God has those characteristics! Where would any of us be without those attributes? But what we must realise is, that even though God will forgive any sin that we confess and repent of, we may have to live with some of the consequences of the choices WE made. Our life is about our choices! Where we are today is because of the choices we made. It’s also fair to say that some of our consequences might be because of someone else’s choices. You may have had a disastrous childhood, you may have been abused, neglected, rejected by a parent. These things happen and they are tragic and do have an affect on our adult life if we don’t redeem it. When we become Christians, we can do something about it. We can’t continue to blame parents, aunties, uncles, teachers etc… We are the only ones who can do something about it. Your situation may have been brought on by a tragedy or a depression or by something someone said but we cannot continue to blame other people for our lives. We have to look in the mirror and decide that we are going to do something about it. I heard this once, if it is to be, it is up to me! Ten two letter words that are immense for our lives.
I was once at a conference and I was asked to pray for a lady. She was suffering with rejection – seems to be a biggy in the church – I asked her her story. Basically, she was left on a hospital step when she was just a few days old. How awful, how sad! BUT she was now in her 40’s and I couldn’t help but think, why haven’t you moved on from this yet? Why haven’t you got a victory yet? Isn’t God big enough to help us deal with the tragedies that come our way? Of course He is. You see, it’s not what happens to you, it’s what happens in you. It’s how you respond to a storm. The church, in my opinion, is being battered by the devil because we haven’t grasped the full message of the gospel. We are taught that His love is unconditional, and it is, again, thank you God!! BUT his blessings are absolutely conditional! All of his promises come with a clause and if we don’t live by the clause, we can’t expect the promise. Fair enough I think. Our choices are a massive part of how our life will turn out.
Imagine that your life is a piece of string. If we make a wrong choice, then we tie a knot in that string. As soon as we realise we made a wrong choice, and we repent and get God’s forgiveness, we can undo that one knot very easily. If we continue to add knots to our ‘life’ then it’s going to get harder to undo. Not impossible, just harder! Christians who fall in a dramatic fashion, don’t do it at the first knot. They begin a journey with a first knot and, if they continue, it can end in devastation for the person and usually for their family too. Can God forgive and restore? Of course He can but there could be major consequences to face as a result.
For example, if a girl sleeps with a boy and she becomes pregnant out of wedlock, she can fully repent and be sorry but she can’t give the baby back. It’s done. King David is a prime example of this lesson. He slept with another man’s wife, she got pregnant but the child died. Talk about a serious consequence. But then, because of David’s repentance, God gave him Solomon! The wisest king on earth. Solomon made some terrible choices too but it was said of him that previous statement.
Have you or has someone you know got lots of knots they need to undo? It can be done, but it may take some time. Get alongside them, don’t judge, help them turn their life around one knot at a time. Remember, nothing is impossible for those who believe!
Have an amazing knot free week!!! Make good choices……

Wow! It’s Monday again! Where do the weeks go! Thanks for all your comments on the blog, keep them coming, it’s all good food for thought.

Last week I mentioned that I didn’t believe that children have to walk away from God or church and so I’d like to share some thoughts on that and on my own experience with my kids, Chris (22) and Beth (20), who are both still walking with God and involved in church. Now, don’t go on a guilt trip if yours aren’t, keep reading and keep hope alive because if nothing is impossible for those who believe then nothing is impossible for those who believe!

I don’t think it’s random.  Some kids make and some kids don’t? I think the church should be the greatest place for kids to grow up in and not the worst. I read a frightening statistic recently from an American survey of ministers and their families that said this: 80% of adult children of pastors sought professional help for depression! Surely it isn’t meant to be like this…..

When my kids were younger, someone said to me, ‘Oh they’ll go away from God for a while and then they’ll come back’ I immediately said, (to myself, I was too scared to say it to her face!) no they won’t thanks very much.  I decided that I wasn’t going to have that for my kids. I didn’t want them going into the world of drugs, alcohol and sex and getting a whole load of baggage from the devil so I went to war for them. Did they make mistakes? Yes! Do they have any regrets? Yes! Were they perfect? Absolutely not! (even though some believe that pastor’s kids should be) Were we perfect parents? No we weren’t. I don’t know everything that my kids got up to and I don’t want to!  but I know enough to know that it wasn’t easy for them growing up in a pastor’s home, they had their own battles to face and some of the stuff they went through was very tough. BUT I never let go spiritually.

When you have a baby, as you know, (unless you’re a man and then you haven’t got a clue! haha!), the physical umbilical chord is cut and that life that has been a part of its mum for 9 months becomes an individual. I remember that I felt God say to me once, the physical chord may have been cut but you NEVER have to cut the spiritual one! You are in control of that one! I fought and prayed for my kids constantly. When they were asleep, when they were out I would pray in their room, sometimes shouting at the top of my voice! The devil wasn’t having my children. I couldn’t intervene in the consequences of their choices – I wish I could have – but I prayed and I continue to pray and fight for them to this day, I also have a beautiful daughter-in-law now, I pray and fight for her too! The fight doesn’t stop.

Who is responsible for your kids spiritual well being? The church, the youth group, the youth pastor? They are good aids of course,  but the key is you! I know it’s hard if you belong to a church where there are no kids of your kids age and I know people who have moved church for that reason. I’m not advocating that but for some families that may be necessary. Another friend of mine was so concerned for her kids that she started a youth club that they could go to.

Where the parent goes the child will follow. If they see Jesus as the main ingredient in your life, then no matter what they go through, that will always be their anchor! But if they don’t see ‘Jesus’ in the home and if your commitment to Him and His church is weak then it’s likely that they will go out into the world which is portrayed as a candy store and it’s not until they’re in it that it turns into the ‘child catcher’s cage’ (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) If you’re not bothered about your own spiritual growth, then you can’t expect your children to be bothered about theirs.

Chris and Beth both had different experiences. Chris joined Sporting Marvels (if you want to know what that is go to http://www.sportingmarvels.com) when he was 17 and, so from a young age, he was planted into an environment that helped him grow spiritually and in a sense there were eyes all around him watching his back so he never ventured into the world as such. (as far as I know anyway!) Beth was different, she didn’t follow the same path as Chris which I wouldn’t have wanted unless she’d have wanted that. Without going into detail, she made some bad choices and suffered some consequences because of those choices but I never gave up!! It’s a bit like them being on a piece of elastic that goes so far and then you have to rein it back in! She never stopped coming to church (that was our families habit – important ingredient) and about 18 months ago, things turned around rapidly and we are where we are today. I was driving to a women’s weekend around that time and I was thanking God for what had happened and, as clear as day, I felt I heard God say, ‘You did it!’ I burst out crying and realised what He meant. I had fought enough and seen a victory. You cannot afford to stay passive. Passivity won’t bring your kids through but fighting will! Remember, nothing is impossible for those who believe.

Here are some practical ways that worked for us and I trust they will help you too and if you haven’t got kids yet, take them on board for later!

1: Going to church has been a habit in my life since before I was born, so we passed it on, it was never debated. Sunday was church.

2: We were no different in the home than we were at church.

3: They watched us have daily quiet times

4: They’ve watched how much we love each other

5: We prayed with them every night.

There are probably more things and you may have some tips to pass on! If your kids are still in church, celebrate and don’t stop praying for them, if they’re not, up your spiritual battle for them.  ‘How long do you fight?’ answer? Until you win!

I’m 43 years old and today, August 2012 I enter the world of blogging! 

My husband John asked me this morning, what is the one thing you can do that is unique to you that will impact as many people on the planet as possible? Quite a question! And, while I realise that this blog may or may not be read by many, I see it as a start! My mission in life is to see Christians, especially those who are full time ministry -I am a child of the manse and also a wife of the manse so I have seen a lot!! Some I would rather not have seen! – living the full life that Jesus promised in John 10:10. Too many have the faith to believe that when they die they will go to heaven, (the ultimate prize!) yet no belief or clue how to actually live this life…. I am not living it to the fullest potential by any means but I have learned some stuff over the years and enough to know that the devil is stealing, killing and destroying believers for fun and if we are going to impact the UK and the world with the gospel then the church has to rise up in victory. We should be leading the way in successful marriages, family life, careers, relationships, finances etc…. the world should be looking at us and asking the question, what have those Christians got that I haven’t? Oh how I long for these days….. I believe there is a prescribed way to live this life. God will never love us any more or less but His blessings are fully dependent on how we live – seems like a fair deal to me! If you’ve got kids, then you know this principle! You will never stop loving them (even though they may be making you tear your hair out!) BUT good parenting means that they may have to lose the benefits of being part of your family for a while if they continue to make shocking choices! My belief is that it’s the same with God. His amazing promises all have ‘if’ clauses but sadly most of the time we just quote the promise and not the condition, so Christians are left floundering because the promises aren’t coming to pass but not many are  saying why they’re not coming to pass. Here is a good example, ‘you will know the truth and the truth will set you free!’ how many times have you heard that one? Are the words from the Bible? Of course they are – they are found in John 8:32 but if you skip back to verse 31, there is a huge clause on it! ‘IF you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples, THEN you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.’ Suddenly, that verse is down to me and not simply a case of knowing the truth, I have to hold to his teaching, in other words, obey His commands on a daily basis and THEN……….

If you are a Christian, then Abundant life is for you. Not that you won’t have storms, of course you will but God has given us everything we need for life and Godliness,  if we live it properly, we can overcome any storm!