YOUTHINTHECORNER

We discovered a little over a week ago that we were going to have a boy.  This is the first opportunity I have had to blog on the subject.  When the tech told us that it was going to be a boy…we were a bit surprised and elated and admittedly I began to tear up.  When the tech walked out I broke down and cried like a baby.  Not out of joy but out of a bit of fear.  I am now going to be the father or a son.  That has a deep meaning to me.  Not that being a father to 2 beautiful daughters is something to be taken lightly but to raise a boy who will become a man that will lead a family of his own is a completely different thing.

You see Rheaumes are not that great at raising sons.  My father was abusive.  His father was abusive towards him and on down the line it went.  I still carry a lot of STUFF because of the sins of my father.  I know that I am a new creation in Christ however, the fear remains.

HOWEVER, Audra reminded me of a story I told her once about a conversation I had with my mother.  I was about 11 years old and my mother was telling me about how I was going to do great things with my life…I teared up and told her that I had a feeling deep within me that it was not me who would do great things but my son.  So, Audra always knew one day we would have a son because she feels (as do I ) that was a word from God spoken into my spirit.  So I go into this with great humility and awe.  Knowing that God has blessed me with a son to give him glory that one day he will do great things for the glory of God.

Anyway, with all of that…at the core I am simply a happy daddy.  I have a wonderful wife who is a wonderful mother.  I have 2 amazing daughters and I have a son on the way…Sean-Thomas…son I can’t wait to meet you.

Matthew 18:8-9

If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

Jesus didn’t intend for all of us to wander the earth blind and crippled.  He uses the hyperbole here to instruct just how important lifestyle management can be.  This past week I did a sermon entitled The Spirit that Rescues and in it I laid out that we are not to carry the burden of our sin struggle on our own.  That it is a burden that is spiritual thus should be left to the Holy Spirit to battle.  However, as it says in Romans 8, we will still have the limitations of sin.  That takes me to this blog today.  What are you doing proactively to live a life that honors Christ.

1) EVALUATE – We need to evaluate ourselves regularly.  We need to be checking ourselves against the fruit of the Spirit found in Gal 5:22.  How is your walk with God?  How is your relationship with others?

2) ESTABLISH – What in your life needs adjusting/cut away.  Are you watching too much TV?  Are you surrounding yourself with those who gossip?  Are you eating the WHOLE bag of chips?

3) EXCISE – Have the courage to cut it out.  Get rid of it.

4) ENGAGE – Now with the new time/energy/resources you have engage God with more of your time/energy /resources.