Vision, Goals and Boundaries

Do you ever feel beat down?  Your world is spinning out of control.  Your boss is complaining that "your head just doesn't seem to be in the game" while shoving more work onto you.  You arrive home to find the kids are yelling and running through the house, your husband is asking "what's for dinner, honey" or better yet complaining "dinner's not ready yet?" while you stumble over the dog and attempt to put down your own brief case.  No peace at home....no peace at work.

The scene is typical of most modern families.  It's not much different if you're a single gal.  You are still juggling deadlines and the demands of friends and family.

All too often, we take on too much and have hectic lives because we lack boundaries and a vision.  One must first have the vision and goals, then, setting boundaries will become easier.

In Proverbs, the Bible says "without a vision the people will perish".  There are countless verses that discuss setting up store houses rather than being a sluggard.  People who set up their store houses had a vision for the future.  They planned ahead.

Remember the story of Mary and Martha?  Martha was busy running around while Mary took time to spend with Jesus.  When Martha complained that Mary wasn't helping her, Jesus told her "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)  Likewise, we spend our lives running around trying to take care of work, family, career, and other obligations.  We fail to spend time with Jesus, we fail to bless others because we are too busy, and we often fail to accomplish our true goals in life because we have been blinded by the busyness of the day-to-day.

As 2010 was coming to a close, I heard more sighs of relief and hopeful expressions for 2011.  Truth be told, unless you take the time to slow down, spend time with Jesus, prayerfully seek God's guidance for your life, and plan the vision, it won't matter if it is 2011, 2012,  or 2015.  You will grow older while running around "putting out fires". 

Being busy is one way in which Satan stops you from spending time with Jesus.  Busyness keeps us from daily devotion and Bible reading.  It stops us from participating in outreaches.  It also keeps us from fulfilling our God-given destiny. 

I would encourage you to examine your life.  What are the areas that keep you from God-time?  What can you change?

Plant the vision by charting it out.  Give yourself something to look at, trust the Lord to help guide and support you, and remember the following Bible passage from Psalms 37:23-24:

The steps of a man are established by the Lord,

when he delights in his way; though he fall, he

shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds

his hand.

Discern before buying!

Discern…discerning…discernment. You hear these words tossed around in church and read them in the Bible. What does it mean to be discerning, and how does it apply to literature? If you are discerning, you are perceptive, have keen insight, and can detect subtleties. When spoken of in the Bible and the Church, it means that you can apply Godly-principles to what you are seeing, hearing, and reading. To be discerning in literature means that you do not blindly accept facts just because the book was written by an alleged biblical scholar. People who are new to Christianity or who have yet to develop a strong biblical foundation might be tempted to accept what they are reading or hearing as fact, especially if the author or lecturer is widely acclaimed as an expert.


Let’s use Remembering The Parables: Using The Art of Memory to Remember Jesus’ Parables as an example of what to look for when you are discerning whether or not the book is based on a solid biblical foundation. When I was approached to review the book, the only information I knew was the publisher, the authors’ names and a brief description. I’ll admit, I didn’t really check it out prior to saying I’d review it. So, if you found the book in your local bookstore, what would raise red flags?

First, the back cover quotes Giordano Bruno. Bruno was a Dominican Friar who left the order to lecture against basic church beliefs, to declare Christianity irrational, and to proclaim anyone who believed the Bible was illiterate. He was sentenced as a heretic and burned at the stake. What if you didn’t know all of this? If you are unfamiliar with the authors and people quoted on the back of the book, what should you look for?

Read the table of contents. If everything still looks ok, read the introduction. Read the first chapter. Turn to the back of the book and look at the names of the people who were quoted. Remembering the Parables relies heavily on Dominic O’Brien, a British memory champion who peddles his program online and promises his quantum memory system will provide you with a limitless memory (hence the god-like ability to know everything). The majority of the alleged experts, though claiming to have religious backgrounds, spent many years teaching religion at secular institutions. Several were members of the Jesus Seminar. Adolph Julicher, a German scholar of the late 1800’s—early 1900s, taught that the Gospel of Mark contained a hidden message and that Jesus was a historical figure who never claimed to be the Messiah.

By doing this, you would have found Remembering the Parables included the Gnostic gospel of Thomas. Gnosticism is one of the original heresies of the church. Alleged experts have declared that it precedes the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Gospel of Thomas is not accepted by the Catholic Church or by Protestant Denominations. The majority of biblical scholars have declared it a collection of sayings which are based on Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and which contains statements which cannot be attributable to Jesus. (apologeticsindex dot org has more information on the gospel of Thomas and the Jesus Seminar. Perform a site search by clicking on how to use and scrolling down toward the bottom of their page.) You would have also found that the book only included 30 parables that “experts” had agreed were valid. A book with a strong, biblical foundation would not question the legitimacy of any text contained within the Bible.

When in doubt, don’t purchase a book until you have had a chance to research the authors, quoted experts, and read some book reviews online.

I'll take the super-sized fries with that!

We’re all familiar with the saying, “It’s not what’s on the outside, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.” Did you know that is in the Bible? Seriously....in 1 Samuel 16:7, ”But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”  Apparently, people during Old Testament times were just as concerned with body image as we are today.

What spurred my thoughts to run to jiggley arms and muffin tops?  I just read Margot Starbuck's book, Unsqueezed: Springing Free  From Skinny Jeans, Nose Jobs, Highlights, and Stilettos.  If you're not familiar with Margot, she has a dry, sarcastic, witty sense of humor and draws heavily on her own life for examples.  Stiffling chuckles and silently being convicted as I read, I began to think about body image, relationships, and life in general.

The Bible says we are made in God’s image (Gen 1:27), and our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19-20).  I fail to see anything divine in the jiggly underarm wings and muffin tops we develop as we get older.  But wait......could it be that we defiled our temple with daily runs to Starbucks for caramel macchiatos and to McDonalds for super-sized value meals?  Jesus walked--a lot--and ate a healthy diet.  If we are to care for our bodies, we should follow suit.

It's not just our eating habits in which we are negligent.  We are also apathetic in our pursuit of Christianity.  Our lives have become convenient and comfortable.  Christianity has shifted from a "go" mentality ("go ye therefore into all the nations...baptizing..teaching) to a "come" mentality (come to church and see what God can do for you).

Stay tuned as we explore these themes in upcoming articles!

Blessings!