Living Between the Extremes - Lesson 10 - Biblical Boundary #8

What is good or right about this thing that I would allow it in my life?

Sure I’m not as bad as he is.
I’m a better wife than she is.
At least my kids aren’t doing what their kids are.

Who are we comparing ourselves to?
Are we comparing ourselves to other’s weaknesses?
Or are we comparing ourselves to what the Lord has laid out for us.

I believe there are no neutral words.
Your words are either lifting up
Or they are tearing down.
We can have different degrees of course.

You can have a sharp tongue and rip them down
and they know they have been verbally assaulted.
You can do it more subtly and when they get home they are thinking to themselves…
Did they mean that the way they said it?

So when we ask, what is good or right about this thing that I would allow it in my life?
I also believe there are no neutral actions.
Our actions we will either have to give account for to the Lord or
They are actions we will be rewarded for.

Those who are in the wrong defend themselves.
A homosexual will say what they do in the privacy of their own home isn’t hurting anyone.
Someone smoking marijuana says it isn’t hurting anyone.

Those sins are easy ones we don’t suffer from those two.
It’s easy to point to them and say how bad they are.
What about us when we defend our more socially acceptable sins?
We sound just like them.
The only person we are fooling is ourselves.
And we don’t even do a good job at that.

Opening question…
Have we learned anything from our previous 9 weeks on this topic?
Or have we wasted 9 hours of our lives that we can never get back?





Last week I ended with the comment that
we have spent our whole lives programming ourselves a certain way.
And with the Lord’s help we can de-program it.
Or re-program it if you will.

About two months ago I suggested we should keep track of others around us
and note their negativity.
I also mentioned after we took an inventory of how negative they were
we should make note of ourselves and rate our negativity level.

Did anyone do that?





Rather than telling you to re-program it and leave you on your own
Let’s find out how we are to do that.

Remember what the number 8 represents when we come across it in the Bible?
New Beginnings
Here is another grouping of 8

Philippians 4:8-9, ‘Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.’

My rhetorical question that you can answer in front of all us is…
How much time do you spend thinking on the above-mentioned list of 8?





What are we going to do about that?





Can’t we pray for the Lord to help us focus on these things?
Why do people let us down so often?
Because we expect them to.
And we are watching their every move for an offence.

I have encouraged you to pray more expectantly and more specifically.
I believe we do that very well for others.
I expect Him to protect my children.
I expect a blessing at church during the service.

Do we pray Lord forgive me of my sins and give me a good day?
Or do we ask the Lord to forgive us for our specific sins?
And ask the Lord for the specifics of our day?

I think I know the answer here but would anyone want to answer?





Let’s see if this verse helps…

1 Thes. 3:7-15, ‘Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith: For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God; Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith? Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.’

Can’t we pray for the Lord to focus our thoughts?
Or are we afraid of what He might do if we give Him full control?





Our thought for today is what is good or right about this thing that I should allow it in my life?

2 Timothy 1:13, ‘Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.’

Your thoughts…





I think we look for happiness in the wrong places.
If we are not looking for happiness or comfort
Maybe we are looking for some mind numbing exercise
to keep our mind off the reality.


Romans 14:23, ‘And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.’

Let’s overlook the eating analogy here.
Let me paraphrase…
Why do we do what we do?
I’ll do it because you told me to but I don’t think it will work.

What kind of an attitude is that?
When our kids act like that we want to spank them.
How does the Lord feel when we act like that?





2 Corinthians 5:6-8, ‘Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.’

I said before that I believe we focus on the negative.
How often do we focus on being in heaven?





You know when the Lord tells you to do something and you start arguing in your head?
Or when you men read about you husbandly duties in the Bible
and you start thinking about all the things your wife doesn’t do for you?
As you are justifying your inactivity.

Or wives when you read what you are supposed to do
and then you look over at him sitting on the couch
and then look over at the stack of bills on the desk.

Let’s read here…

James 4:17, ‘Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’

Your thoughts…





We trust Him with cancer
We trust him with salvation
We trust Him with the big things.

Why can’t we trust Him with what are possibly the lesser matters.
Someone’s attitude?
Someone’s heart?
Someone’s mouth?

Do we like having our God in a box only to come out on special occasions?
Like a genie in a magic lamp.
We only get three wishes so we better make them count.

Galatians 5:6, ‘For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.’

Your advice here…
Here’s my advice here.
In stead of praying for your spouse to change their attitude
Or that person you are in conflict with.
Let’s pray, Lord I hope I never act like that,
If I have please reveal it to me. And Lord please comfort that person’s heart
as they appear to be in pain and reveal to me what I can do to help them.





I believe this has been a good series.
A supernaturally put together series.
Because as I told you before I put together the title for the chapters earl on
and picked out the verses just as early on.

And here they are laid out for us with practical advice.
Not just slaps in the face and rebukes for what we are doing wrong.

Galatians 5:16, ‘This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.’

Can you give us some closing thoughts to help us apply what we have read today?





Let’s meditate on the eight items previously read:
Truth, honesty, justice, purity, loveliness, things of good report; things of virtue, and that which is worthy of praise
Let’s think on those things we walk with the Lord.

Rather than he should have done that
She should have done that
Why didn’t the Lord
Why did the Lord

Let’s not compare ourselves to other’s weaknesses.
Let’s not keep the Lord in a box
Or a magic lamp as it were.

Let’s truly allow Him to work in our lives.

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