We have finally finished Joshua and what a journey that was for us! Did you notice all the detail about boundaries? That got me to thinking about the crucial importance of boundary lines, even today? I have a friend who is having a terrible time because of an incorrect boundary line on her property. She has spent thousands of dollars in legal fees, etc. and the issue is still not resolved. I have known of persons who have had to remove fences and shrubberies and even portions of a home because a boundary line had been encroached. Boundaries are important.
That is not only true of land boundaries but that is also true of emotional and relational boundaries. I have seen lives, marriages and thus families destroyed because of an emotional or relational boundary being encroached upon. I have had to learn the lesson of personal boundaries the hard way. Early in my ministry when I was trying to save the world, a friend told me in her country sort of way; "Terry, you can’t be sheriff for the whole world." In other words, "Terry, you must set healthy personal boundaries." It is true that one can only do what one can do, but they can do that. To this day, I still want so desperately to keep people from making eternal mistakes—the kind of mistakes that cannot be reversed and are damaging to so many they love. But I can’t substitute my self or my wishes into their free will. I must know my limitations and leave the rest to God—boundaries, healthy boundaries.
The children of Israel needed some help with their tribal boundaries as well as their spiritual boundaries. As long as they stayed within the boundaries set by God through Moses, Caleb and/or Joshua, their lives were orderly and blessed. But when they forgot—and they seemed to have a "forgetting problem"—their lives were full of chaos and division.
Therein, lies our lesson for all of time. Watch your boundaries—keep them healthy. Don’t let your free will become a fence that is costly to move. - Terry Walton, senior pastor
That is not only true of land boundaries but that is also true of emotional and relational boundaries. I have seen lives, marriages and thus families destroyed because of an emotional or relational boundary being encroached upon. I have had to learn the lesson of personal boundaries the hard way. Early in my ministry when I was trying to save the world, a friend told me in her country sort of way; "Terry, you can’t be sheriff for the whole world." In other words, "Terry, you must set healthy personal boundaries." It is true that one can only do what one can do, but they can do that. To this day, I still want so desperately to keep people from making eternal mistakes—the kind of mistakes that cannot be reversed and are damaging to so many they love. But I can’t substitute my self or my wishes into their free will. I must know my limitations and leave the rest to God—boundaries, healthy boundaries.
The children of Israel needed some help with their tribal boundaries as well as their spiritual boundaries. As long as they stayed within the boundaries set by God through Moses, Caleb and/or Joshua, their lives were orderly and blessed. But when they forgot—and they seemed to have a "forgetting problem"—their lives were full of chaos and division.
Therein, lies our lesson for all of time. Watch your boundaries—keep them healthy. Don’t let your free will become a fence that is costly to move. - Terry Walton, senior pastor
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