Repent...

                Set Boundaries...

                                             Forgive...           

A long, long time ago, I home schooled our children.  When I quit my career of medical transcription, I set a foundation for 'my school.'  I had three rules that we followed.  They were our guideposts in the goals we were to aim for, because you must have goal posts.  

The first rule was:  If you cheat yourself now, you will cheat yourself later.  This meant that if you took a shortcut and cheated to achieve (fill in the blank...) you were only hurting yourself because somewhere down the line you are going to have to come back and learn whatever (fill in the blank) you cheated to get out of doing.  

Rule #2:  If you don't get it the first time, it's okay.  Because you can try again and we will try again until you do get it.  But, I gave them a caveat of - With the world you are going to have to get it the VERY FIRST TIME!  Because in most cases, the world will not give you a second chance.  If I made an error in guiding rules, it would be this one.  I already felt I was too hard on my children and thought I was being kind an generous to give them multiple chances to get it right.  

Rule #3, well, basically, I had two rules, that's it...two rules that  you read above.  But I did have an analogy of "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever."  I do not know who wrote this anology otherwise, I would credit them.  The story goes:  A chef is telling his students they are getting ready to make the best cookies ever.  They assemble the ingredients and began to prepare the cookies.  As they get to the last part of the cookie ingredients being stirred in to the batter, the chef says," Wait a minute!  I've forgotten something.  Here, here is some dog poo!  It's what makes the cookies so great."  The students were like, "Ewww!!!! No Way!!! Are you crazy?" The chef patiently waited, listening to their responses.  Finally one student said, "It's wrong!  It will ruin the recipe."  The chef exclaimed, "Finally, someone gets it!  Yes, it's wrong.  It doesn't matter how much or how little, if there is just the slightest bit of dog poo in there, it has corrupted the batter."  

So this is how I came apply a search for the very elusive truth we are all searching for and seeking.  Somethings appear very good, but they added something.  The something they added is the equivalent of dog poo.  I have said, and said, and said "Read your Bible."  The Bible is truth.  

And I will admit I'm the first to run and seek an answer from a 'how to' book looking for those so valuable coping skills that somehow I never learned all in  trying to heal myself.  I do feel like Holy Spirit led me to "Boundaries and Confronting the Jezebel Spirit" books.  But, while these books are very good on seeing the problem, they really are not good at teaching coping skills.  The reason why is because they go against scripture or do they?  There in lies the question...This is why I'm stressing that truth is paramount.  If something goes against scripture, I'm sorry my friend, you are wrong.  If someone is telling you to do something that is not in scripture such as drag up all the details of your past, that is not scriptural.  You have to have the whole counsel of God not part of it.  God told me when I got saved, "You are a new creature in Christ.  All the old things are passed away.  You are no longer that person."  

Now for anyone learning boundaries, it is an incredibly difficult process.  First you do have to shake off the chains of religion.  You know, you 'll hear that voice that says "You haven't forgiven them."  And yet, here you are remembering asking God to forgive you and them.  Yet, this red flag keeps slapping you in the face.  Someone accusing you of doing something that you are not doing.  Be honest with yourself.  If you have done it, admit it.  But trust me, if someone is telling you they are not and they are trying to tell you their story but you are not listening, they are just going to get louder and louder because keeping quiet is what they used to do. Keeping quiet never changed anything except God has a way.  Sometimes it just doesn't happen fast enough.  That's another issue patience.  But sometimes, it is important that someone points out the issue because just take a look at what's going in our world right now.  

So my path and dilemna which I would like to hear others' voices on is:  Where did the dog poo come in?  Have we taken on too much of the world's way of dealing with problems rather than dealing with them God's way.  And it doesn't make it truth if you are outcasted from a community of believers and the only thing you did was stand for scriptural integrity.  I'm a new creature in Christ not a people pleaser.  I used to be a people pleaser until Christ told me I could not be that anymore.  Quench not the Holy Spirit.  Forbid not the speaking in tongues.  Repent.  I'm a new creature in Christ.  I don't have to drag up all my past sins and recount them.  I'm healed.  I'm delivered.  I'm a new creation.  Christ has taken my sin and thrown it as far from the east to the west.  Don't ask me to do what you are not willing to do.  And then you see it, you see the tactic and it's too late because they set you off.  Yet, they say you are the one that's wrong.  

Well, I'm here to say that yes, some boundaries are apparently helpful and will protect you.  But the scriptural chocolate chip cookie has been corrupted because God gives unconditional love and true love in Christ would not behave that way - accusing, talking about someone, trying to set up scenarios that makes them appear a certain way, etc., etc.  God has already warned me of what is coming and has told me I'm protected.  I will stand with God.  I don't giving a flying flip fartleberry what you say, think or feel because I know what scripture says.  I believe my Bible more than what I can see, touch, taste, hear or feel in this physical world.  So outcast me, I'm not alone.  Talk about me, go ahead, I don't care anymore.  I'm gonna side with God and His Word because my Bible tells me so.  If  I'm burnt up and we will all stand before Him and our works will be thrown in to the fire, what remains is what we get to give Jesus.  I want everything I did to count for Christ.  Let's clean up the batter shall we?