According to Henry Cloud, “We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing. Consequences give us the pain that motivates us to change.” This prompting to change, brings us into the boundaries God established for our lives. With that in mind, boundaries are defined as unofficial rules about what should not be done; limits that define acceptable behavior. Boundaries define for us, what is acceptable and what is not.

At times, people see boundaries as restrictive, but those of us who understand God’s Word and have the desire to grow and be successful, see them as liberating, even necessary. Without boundaries, anything goes. The Bible teaches, without a vision the people run wild (Proverbs 29:18). If we don’t know where we are going and for what purpose, how will we ever know when we arrive? How will we know what to accomplish?

In my experience, I have found that many people fail to establish boundaries for their lives, resulting in a lack of control and disorder. For instance, the person without direction or discipline to accomplish goals in life, merely exists, waiting to get lucky and hoping something good will happen in their life. In comparison, the person with boundaries, or a set of do’s and don’ts, are more successful and accomplish more. Furthermore, boundaries also keep us from being over extended or spending more money than we have, helping us cultivate healthier habits and improving our ability to make better decisions.

Boundaries aren’t restrictive, they are liberating and will help us to live a more productive and fruitful life. Once boundaries are set, they will free us to live the life God has in store for us, but the choice to change is yours. As Shannon Alder stated, “The only real conflict you will ever have in your life won’t be with others, but with yourself.” Words are cheap, having boundaries requires action.

Just a Thought,

PSS

You may have heard the phrase, hurting people, hurt people. There is so much brokenness in this world, and there are so many hurting people in the world today. It is well known that those who have been emotionally damaged, tend to inflict their hurt on others. People who have suffered abuse, at times become abusers themselves. Those who have suffered under an alcoholic parent often themselves cause their future family to suffer, because they become alcoholics.

Because of this pain, ordinary words are often misinterpreted to mean something negative towards them. Have you ever met someone who was overly sensitive? That no matter what you say, they seem to take it wrong. They are extremely sensitive and act out of pain and fear, instead of reality. This emotional pain causes them to suspect wrong motives behind others’ actions toward them. That hurt causes them to use the words "unfair" or "unjust" to describe the way they are being treated, even if there is no truth to it. Hurt can cause paranoia; it’s very deceptive. This is why hurting people, hurt people. We allow that hurt to destroy our lives. No wonder Jesus came to heal the broken hearted. Hurt causes so much pain to the person who has been hurt and to those around them. If you have experienced hurt, God often exposes it, so that He can heal it. Instead of hiding it, begin to deal with and ask God to heal it, so that you can live a more peaceful and fulfilled life.

Just a Thought,

PSS

Real life change is something that we can see in our lives. As we have just celebrated Easter, or resurrection day, we are reminded of the day Jesus rose from the dead to save our lives. It was for a purpose, so that you and I could experience life change. When we receive Jesus into our lives, He gives us eternal life. The human spirit, the part God breathed into man when He created him, is eternal because God is eternal. That means we will live forever either in heaven or hell. The greatest news is that it's your choice where you spend forever. You get to decide. No one else can decide for you, no one. It’s all in your hands to decide either to receive and then to follow Jesus, or to say no and don’t follow him. There is no in between, either you are all in or you are not. There is no half way in, either He is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. He didn’t die so that you and I could play games. He died to give you and I life and that life to the fullest. So many are playing with fire by ignoring His commands, His Word, and His teaching. As the world gets worse and worse, as this age comes to a close, as Jesus’ return hastens, we need to decide whose team we are on, team Jesus or team world. You can’t be on both, either we are with Him or we are not. My prayer is that you choose team Jesus and get serious about following Him. Go to church, begin serving, and start tithing. You can’t follow Jesus by making up your own rules for living your life. You follow Him by honoring and obeying His Word. Read Romans 10:9-10 and then pray and ask Jesus to save you. Confess Him as Lord of your life and experience real life change.

Just a Thought,

PSS

Boldness is defined as not hesitating or fearful, in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuff; it also means to be courageous and daring. In this day of ungodliness, in a world that wants to see the Word of God censored, not taught, or in a society that teaches that somehow success is bad, if you believe in absolute truth, you are crazy and out of touch. It’s no wonder Christian’s are shrinking back and becoming more and more silent on the world’s stage. When you go against mainstream society or the politically correct crowd, you get blasted with words such as hater, intolerant and old fashioned. What we need, to fight the temptation to be silent, is boldness. We need to be courageous to stand up and exercise our free speech rights to proclaim the Good News about Jesus the Savior of all humanity, the only Savior. Acts 4:12 clearly states, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

It’s time that we rise up, begin to share our faith, and let people know that Jesus loves them and wants to help them. If they are willing to follow his ways, He will save them from an eternal death of punishment and torment. Let’s all stand up and begin to share the Good News with those people, in our lives. Let’s begin to invite our friends and family to Church. Let’s ask God to give us boldness so that we won’t ever be silenced. People will come to church if someone they know will invite them. When they come, they will hear that there is hope for a better life, through Jesus Christ, the only Savior of the world. An empty seat is a serious matter. Let’s fill our church this Easter and resurrection Sunday, and give people an opportunity to say yes to the one true hope, Jesus Christ.

Just a Thought,

PSS

“Grudges are for those who insist that they are owed something; forgiveness however, is for those who are substantial enough to move on” (Criss Jami). A grudge is a persistent feeling of ill will or resentment, resulting from a past insult or injury. In order to move forward in life, we must be able to let go of the past, including past hurts and even past success. Hurts seem obvious, but why should we let go of past success?  You can build on past successes, but you can’t live on what you did yesterday. We continually have to improve ourselves. Things like grudges will not only hold us back in every area of our lives, they can also destroy our lives. In life, no one owes us anything. It’s up to us to do the right thing, work hard, and be kind and respectful. When we are wronged in life, and we all will be, we have to develop a short memory. In sports, coaches always want their best shooters and their quarterbacks to have short memories. Why?  Short memories are necessary because they forget about the missed shot, or the interception the quarterback threw. If they don’t, they will lose confidence; the basketball player will stop shooting and the quarterback will begin to second guess himself. To move past a grudge, remember to have a short memory so that you can let go of the hurtful things people have done to you and forgive them. That way, you won’t lose confidence in yourself and will be able to move forward in life.