Yesterday's message

Being parents has affected our lives in many ways. When you are a parent, you want to do what is best for your child. You want to watch over them and protect them and do whatever you can to give them the best life possible. Jared and I have always attended church, but since Hadley was born we have really begun to evaluate our spiritual lives. We have continued to pray each night before we go to bed and pray over her before she goes to bed. But we also started reading the Word again on a regular basis. Our church gives out a monthly Bible reading schedule, so we decided to start there. For the past month, we have been reading Proverbs each night. The main theme in Proverbs is wisdom. So naturally, we have been praying for wisdom in all our decisions. Dino has been preaching in a series called "I have a friend who..." . Last week was about healing and this week was about making bad choices. I know, as parents, Jared and I, are really trying to evaluate each word we say, choice we make, or step we take because we have a strong desire to be Godly examples for our daughter. I just wanted to share yesterday's message because it really spoke to me and I hope it will be of value to others. So here goes:

He began with Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your OWN understanding , but in all your ways acknowledge Him and HE will make your paths straight." (I love this verse!) Then he had us think of what the opposite of this verse would be.... I am going to sum it up the best I can. It went something like this... "If you do things YOUR way and do not trust in Him, you will end up in one big cycle of pain, confusion, and fear."

Then he talked about the verses in Romans (7:17-20) that talk about the spirit vs. the flesh. Then he listed the top four areas that people usually make bad choices in: relational, financial, sexual, and result of a bad environment.

He then went on to talk about why we make these bad choices:
1) fear(loneliness, rejection, failure, etc.),
2) impatience(not waiting on God's best for our lives),
3) not using wisdom to make our decisions ( knowing what is right but doing the wrong thing anyway),
4) caught in a stupid moment,
5) pride ( too prideful to listen to others who are trying to speak God's truth to you)
6) lust
7) the company you keep.
Wow- when I look back at some of the bad choices I have made in my life I can see how true these really are!! Funny how easy it is to see now! But the bottom line is HOPE!! There is hope in Christ!!
Dino gave us a few reminders:
1) You will never change what you continue to tolerate! Quit making excuses for things that you know are not pleasing to the Lord! You have to be willing to make a change.
2) Right voices equal right choices. Listen to God's voice/ His Word. Compromised voices equal bad choices.
3) You can't turn back the clock. What is done is done, but you can accept what is and move forward accepting God's healing letting God use your bad choices as a lesson to help you grow. 4) The Bible is a book about people who made bad choices and allowed God to redeem them.

He provided us with tips on how to help if you know someone making bad choices:
1) Have patience.
2) Love them by speaking God's truth to them.
3) Forgiveness
4) HOPE- decisions are not final. God's mercies are new every day! Thank goodness for that!