2Pe 1:2 Grace
and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our
Lord, I need His Grace and Peace multiplied unto me, don’t you?
2Pe 1:6 And to
knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
Matthew Henry defines Temperate as “moderate and prudent,
one who governs well his passions and affections, so as not to be hurried away
by them to any thing that is evil or indecent.”
Ga 5:22-23 But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Grandma Baxley was probably the greatest Christian woman I
knew before I left Clay County as a teen age girl. She was quite unique if I
must say so, and often times as I literally watched her silently wait on others
with a smile, I thought she was a type of super woman! Grandma never drove a
car and never left Florida. I don’t know if she graduated from high school or
not, but this one thing I do know, “Grandma knew my God!” I used to be critical
of her always giving in to help people who just took advantage of her. Her tables,
three of which she kept prepared, were large and were the main pieces of furniture
in the dining room and on the screened in back porch. Grandma kept a supply of
foods for the hungry and before they left she sent them away with something to
take with them like a jar of her canned black-eyed peas from the shed filled
with rows of stored vegetables. Sometimes she would slip out to the smoke house
and grab a slab of pork, wrap it in brown paper, hide it under her apron so
Grandpa wouldn’t scold her and slip it to someone. Sometimes, that family would
be one of her own children or grandchildren. We ALL benefited from Grandma’s
treasures of giving! The most unselfish woman in Clay County, Grandma was
temperate in all things. From my best recollections of her, it started when she
was very young. She kept herself from certain indulgences and because of that
early decision, I benefited along with countless others as well.
God holds His hand out to us with the choicest of His best
and yet because of our weaknesses, we may turn our heels to less of His best.
Make sense? This attribute called
TEMPERANCE is a mystery to some degree. Just how far should we stretch our
minds to understand this hard place for us to stay rooted for lengths of time
before falling flat on our face to get up again! Well, join this family of
saved sinners!
We all mess up, wouldn’t you agree? Sheri and I have tried our best to help you
see that we are real and NOT perfect! If I could crawl into the minds of
parents, I would say loudly, “Keep your
child in the Word. Practice the Word and don’t allow for them when it is in
your power to do so, the temptations that would “govern their passions and
affections” in opposition to a Holy and Righteous life. You will have to be
the judge of this and God WILL GUIDE YOU! Some things I grabbed along life's way as a Christian
teen, but some things I did not. Of course with life, we learn, but why not produce
some more Daniels! It is possible! We give our children way too much leniency in
the area of choice in making decisions that could be detrimental to their walk
with God, to really know Him and His Word. Remember, there is always a rattlesnake in a corner SOMEWHERE to strike our precious children. Don't put them close to the bite!
My Bible defines temperance as “self-control.” Self-control
over what? I’ll let you answer that. At
this writing, I’m on ANOTHER eating
plan. You know why? I am an idiot and a sugar addict! Who is to blame? Me! I am
to blame, of course. I have control over everything that goes into my mouth. I
can hardly write about sweet foods without running to SOMEWHERE and grabbing
that something to eat. We have to eat wouldn’t you agree? It is my problem and
now I am trying to get it under God’s control and not my own. It has been fun…..this
new way of eating, but let’s face it, ALL DIETS CAN BE FUN FOR A WHILE….then
ole’ slew foot comes around. Temperance for me right now is doing what I don’t
want to do, to do what I should do so I can enjoy the things that are good for
me….like making it to my 69th birthday!!!
You know in your heart if your weakness is gluttony,
intoxicating drinks, exciting passions which could be a multitude of things,
temper, and any other indulgence(s) contrary to God’s way of life. No way around this one, folks. We are all
guilty, maybe some less than others. Good for you if you are on the right road,
hands on the steering wheel looking straight forward with eyes focused! God
bless you! Then, help someone else. That is what my Grandma did. If she ever
had a temperance problem I don’t know what it was. Her stomach was pudgy
and jiggled when she laughed, but back then, I thought she did it on purpose
for us grand youngins’.
The fact remains if we are truly hungry with a desire to
know this Jesus, our God, Creator of all, then we have to admit our lack of
self-control in the areas that dominate our minds and our bodies, hand it over
to Him relinquishing our way for the PERFECT way….. and then, we can move on in
our lives. Don’t stay in the middle of the road on this one. Trust me; this is
the one area most women struggle! It is time to move on……
2Pe 1:8 For if
these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Isn’t that what this
journey is all about…….getting to know Him? If you need prayer, contact us, privately and we WILL pray!
Until next time, Lord willing.
Sharon
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