Your Perfect Family

     Family. What a great word. This word family conjures up so many different pictures in my mind as I am sure it does for you. We all have family, and different kinds of families that we are part of. I tend to picture Norman Rockwell pictures in my mind when I hear the word family. No, my family is not a Norman Rockwell family.
      We have the family we are born into, the family that we have chosen to be our extended family, our work family and our church family. We may even have more than those listed depending on your activities and associations. Notice that only one of these families is a group of people that we did not make a choice to join, the family that you are born into. Some have a wonderful family and others not so good.   


      It is up to you who you associate with and who spend time with.
When we use the word “associate” as a verb the definition is:  "To connect someone or something in your mind with someone or something else" This definition shows us that we are making that choice to spend time with certain people and activities.
        No matter what kind of family you were born into, you are an adult now and make your own choices as to who you associate with. God even speaks about this subject to us through His word.

    We all have characters in our families. You know the ones, they show up late to everything, the ones that you can count on to bring the gathering to life and the ones that secretly in the back of your mind, you hope don’t show up. We are an interesting group of humans.






          Romans 12:16  - Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.
     Notice that we are commanded to associate with all people; however I don’t believe that God wants us to be harmful to ourselves and continually associate with people that are not good for us. We should always strive to be compassionate and loving to all; however, surrounding yourself with healthy loving people that are supportive is what creates a great family.
      Do you make good choices about who you associating with? How much time do you spend with the families that you have chosen to be in your life?

Holy - Holy - Holy

What a great word this is. I love the song too. Holy Holy Holy, Lord God almighty!

Can you ever be too holy? I know sometimes we say so and so has an attitude of being holier than thou. But do we really mean that, and exactly what does that mean to us?

If I was to say someone is holier than thou, I mean to say they are full of themselves or they think they are better than me.

According to Strong’s Concordance the word Holy means to be clean, purified or sanctified. Well this definition certainly is not the way I am using the word when I say someone is thinks they are holier than me. Once again the misuse of the English language.

Does going to church three times a week mean you are holy? Of course not. How you handle your life and all parts of it determine if you are holy or not. I am not sure we can ever be fully holy by the description above, but it is something we strive for on a daily basis.

My everyday life should show holiness in all my actions and deeds. Can I be acting holy all day long? Yes I can. As I do the dishes and let my mind wander I can be holy. My thoughts are holy and Christ like. I can dish up one of my flash prayers for one of my friends that I know is in need of an extra blessing. I can pray for the sick while I fold laundry. I can pray for my children while I mop the floor. I can thank God as I go through my daily chores around the house. Thank Him for the blessings He has bestowed upon me. Thank Him for the clothes to wash and fold and thank Him
for the house to clean.

Holy is a state of mind for us to work towards in our Christian walk in life.

I Thessalonians 4:3-8

3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

In the verses above we are told that we can strive towards holiness. God did not call us to be impure and to take advantage of others, God called us to be pure and control ourselves.

Today I will control myself and my thoughts toward Godly things as I go throughout my day. How about you? Care to join me today in my walk towards holiness?