Believers, Honesty, Responsibility

Yesterday
I had a dream I was teaching some Chinese and American kids when along came Yao Ming. The kids were already unruly, but now it was time to play ball. There was a little boy, kinda sickly, reminded me of a student I had at Solano Christian Academy. He wanted to play, but his parents were always protecting him. I suggested the boy play and learn his place on the court. I think this dream was about finding our place in life. There are so many times people are protecting of their children, but their children need to be set free to play with others and find their place.

Many times when children play together they end up fighting. If a parent always steps in, the children learn to go to others to solve all their problems. But if a parent says, "You can solve the problem." Then the parent has just enabled the children to become problem solvers. I think children have many opportunities to learn, parents should allow their children to experience more responsibility for their actions.

Yesterday, we had our Bible study. We had some of those same people return that already believe. They are just wanting to learn in English, or should I say perfect their English. This is sort of strange for me. They are wanting to learn English so they can go to another country to teach others about Jesus. Rather fiercely one of them said to me, "Quit speaking in Chinese, speak only English." So, I told them, "This won't be in English for long. I will learn Chinese and this will quickly become simply a Bible study. I am here to help non-believers come to faith." I then shared many English/Chinese resources with them. They can now listen to the Bible in English at home, study many different topics, and find plenty of information about all their questions in English and Chinese, many of these resources are on the Internet (or will be soon - I am going to load them onto my MobileMe online hard drive).

The Daily Bible - Genesis 34-35
Dinah and the men of Shechem. Jacob moves to Bethel and his new name Israel is emphasized again. This is a strange story... the beginnings of the nation of Israel are wrapped in lies. The lies of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then his children... they all have this major issue with being deceitful. Abraham and Isaac lied and people took their wives - then returned them with great blessings. Jacob got his brother's birthright and blessing in deceitful ways. Then the twelve children of Jacob/Israel take many wives and children from Shechem, along with animals and all the wealth. Wow, I haven't really thought about it like this before.

Boundaries in Marriage - Setting Boundaries with Yourself; Becoming More Lovable
Tom and Lynn are married. Tom is late a lot, Lynn complains a lot. Lynn quits complaining, apologizes and changes her habit of holding dinner until Tom gets home. Tom eats microwaved meals by himself, gets sick of it, comes home on time. Tom is thankful that Lynn quit complaining and has made coming home a priority so he doesn't have to eat microwaved meals. Lynn accepted her responsibility for enabling Tom by holding the meal and changed her attitude to be more productive and welcoming. Tom recognized his responsibility for coming home late and decided hot & fresh was better than microwaved.

Whose Problem Is It, Anyway?
As stated above... they were both responsible for some part of it. We can not blame everyone else for our attitude. We can take responsibility for how we respond, think, and feel. This will create vast differences in every relationship. Lynn set limits on her impulse to angry attack of Tom. Second, she set limits on her enabling of Tom.

The Chapter No One Wants to Read
This chapter is about setting limits on myself, not about setting limits on my spouse. Of course, how I set those limits and how I talk about those limits is very important. The time and the method are important because sometimes the spouse will be receptive and other times the spouse will not, as the Bible says, "Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you" (Proverbs 9:8).

Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:15 state that fault is irrelevant, we need to solve the sin problem. God solved our sin problem, now we need to go and do likewise.

Prayer
God grant me the ability to see your blessing in honesty and personal boundaries. Help me to see your blessing in every situation, so that I can trust you to bless me without giving into the temptation to be even the tiniest bit deceitful. Allow me to be controlled by your Spirit, give me your grace and blessings so that I can be a proper witness for you. Allow me to have greater humility, removing the fear of shame which hinders confession and promotes deceit. God you are an awesome God. Thank you for your forgiveness, love, and continued blessings.