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Christian Living

Burglar Bars

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And I understand some distributors now call them ‘Window Grills’. 

This evening as I was attempting to get my 10,000 steps in for today (which I did and plus some) I saw the lone house in our neighbor equipped with ‘window grills’.  As I mulled over the reason for these window adornments I thought, ‘not only do they keep out, they keep in’; and then I was off and running.  That is my thoughts were.

Homes, offices and businesses are not the only edifices equipped with burglar bars. How often do we erect barriers?  We throw up walls around our hearts to protect ourselves. To keep others from getting too close. To protect our emotions from assault and harm.  And I understand. I’ve done it myself. 

And yet I must admit when we place those ‘burglar bars’ around our hearts to keep others out, we are locking ourselves in.  However elaborate we dress up the barriers, calling them whatever pretty names we like the effect is the same – keeping others out and locking us in.

And what do we miss while we are locked in and others are kept out? What do you see on the other side of the window?   Pretty obvious, isn’t it?

May the HOLY SPIRIT make it just as obvious to us what we are missing locked away behind our ‘heart bars’ and may we have the courage to allow Him to help us uninstall them.

2 Corinthians 10

Tearing Down Barriers

1-2And now a personal but most urgent matter; I write in the gentle but firm spirit of Christ. I hear that I’m being painted as cringing and wishy-washy when I’m with you, but harsh and demanding when at a safe distance writing letters. Please don’t force me to take a hard line when I’m present with you. Don’t think that I’ll hesitate a single minute to stand up to those who say I’m an unprincipled opportunist. Then they’ll have to eat their words.

3-6The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.
via 2 Corinthians 10:2-4 MSG – Tearing Down Barriers -And now a – Bible Gateway.

ABBA, I trust that Your Word will not return void. Thank You for grace and mercy, for safety and protection given to each of us this day.

We have the God-given Right to do right in this wrong World,

(Please do not equate heart barriers with healthy boundaries – Healthy Boundaries are another animal entirely.  :))

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my earlier post, we surely all need what Elaine Olsen of Peace for the Journey had to say.  Click Here.

And to encourage you to click above a couple of excerpts:

Oh to be a woman of faith who doesn’t run from the darkness but, instead, who believes God to see her safely through till morning. A “kept” woman—kept safe, kept warm, kept closely, kept wholly by the Father who draws his children closely to his heart and who uses their darkness as the growing field of a tremendous, unshakeable trust.

Today, I’m a witness. You are as well. We’ve made it through another night, and our candles are still burning. You may not be aware of it, but you have a few neighbors—a friend, a family member, a co-worker, a stranger—who are looking through their windows into yours this morning to make sure that your lamplight is on. Your light is important to them. It shines as a testimony to a night’s rest, a night’s trust, a night’s growth, a night’s vigilance by a loving God. He kept you then; he keeps you still.

Click HERE and read all that Elaine so graciously and lovingly penned.

There are prayers to pray! Praying (PFT) is breathing for Christians. Breathe RED!

There is LIGHT for the Darkness + + +