Baseline For Living
Baseline For Living
I have enjoyed stock option trading over the years. The thing of value is the trading rules that I set up for me. Rules have adapted and implemented from those that are extremely successful at the trade. It has served me well. Our lives need the same rules or guardrails, so to speak.
The Bible is a valuable resource to use as a guideline for setting up rules for living. I don't need to make rules for others. It is not my place as I have enough to do with my life. What I know is this. God has the big picture of my life. He created Earth and mankind knowing what is healthy and will provide safety for our hearts. This is the core of who we are. Have we considered the intricacies of a newborn child, a newborn? Anything really?
What a spectacular feat of creation. When we view the oceans, where the mountains are, the wildlife, see animals. We are in awe. They and we were created with a perfect balance and glory in mind. In a perfect world, we would have what we need to stay healthy, whole and at peace. Newsflash…we are living in a fallen world that was given over to the enemy of our hearts with Adam. An easy decision. Our choices matter. They have consequences. Good, bad, or indifferent. Our choices have an effect on our and often others lives. We all know that if we don't take care of our bodies, they will break down. But, there is more than meets the eye. Setting up guidelines or rules for ourselves and food and exercise is one thing. There is the living that includes so much more. We also need guardrails or rules for our everyday living in order to safeguard our heart. Live well. Be all that God created us to be. This is where the Bible comes in. It is not to stop us from being free, but in fact as a guide for us to be totally free.
When I look at Jesus's life and words, I am encouraged by spending time with His Heavenly Father. Jesus showed us that we can get centered for our day. We get focused on what will help us to be all that God planned for our lives that day. He tells us how we were meant to be full of his glory and how to stand firm in the midst of the storm. Jesus shows us how to resist temptation. For us today, temptation can include when we want to gossip by the cooler or in the neighborhood, by anything and everything, even when it isn't part of the plan. Overuse technology. These things can destroy our lives and others when they are not kept in check. Resist the devil and he will flee. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and He will flee from you.
One of the ways we get an understanding of what and who is important to Jesus is by reading the Bible how He wants us to treat those around us. How we treat others is based on Jesus's command to love one another, not on how they treat us. A quick reminder we didn't deserve God's kindness, grace, mercy or love. Yet, He showed us all of those things in spite of our reckless abandon, toward the things that feel good for a moment and a lifetime of consequence. We sometimes complain, God, why don't you make the consequences go away as if God is responsible for our choices? And that's not how it works. It can't. We have a blueprint to living well. Living well does not mean that hard and unfair things won't happen in our life.
Miserable things can and do happen to all people. Satan has a lot of power to steal, kill and destroy. That is his job description and he is very good at it. But, what he does not have the power to do is to determine our response to what happens. He does not have the ability to destroy our hearts unless we allow him that power. This takes us back to Jesus and His example for us. God's demonstration for us. God sent His only son here to redeem our hearts and our freedom to choose God or Satan. The same freedom He gave Adam and Eve. Choose life and life, abundant or death. Follow God who created them or Satan.
When we live with a clear understanding of what we will and won't do before we are in the situation, then we are free of the emotion that condemned us. When we determine what our values are before we are in the midst of the fray. Then we won't allow a spur of the moment. Feel good temptation have any effect? We already made the decision what our lives will be based on. This does not mean we will be perfect. We won't. Only Jesus was without sin. But, what it does mean is that we will be able to live life based on a foundation, one that is based on a source that is not situationally driven or emotionally driven. This means that our decisions for our own lives are based on the plan that God created for us.
The plan that allows us to be all that we hope to be free from condemnation, shame, hate, pride, despair and hopelessness. God created us in His image and likeness with His glory and plan for our lives. When we choose to follow His plan, we can then be a light in the darkness, the glory that God has conveyed in each of our hearts. His glory in dwelling in us with the power of the Holy Spirit. We will be able to shine and shine. We will. This is what Jesus says about the glory that dwells within us.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people labeled lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand. And it gives light to all in the house in the same way. Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14-16 English Standard Version (ESV)
Today. Are you willing to spend time in God's Word and determine rules for your living?
