Under The Influence

My nugget today is about being under the influence… I know where some of you went but this isn’t the case. I was reading a proverb which stated that we should discipline our kids while there is hope. For you parents you notice your kids start to struggle with their identity and look for independence at around 12 years old. So many mothers start to panic at that point because the kid starts to pull away some. In an act of desperation some parents attempt to tighten up some and in some cases the power struggle begins. In the Old Testament the solution for a rebellious, disobedient child was to have the men of the city stone them. I know that you think I am making it up but read Deuteronomy 21:18-21.. This kinda tells me that even the best of parents can have a rebellious kid. Why is that so? Newsflash some of you aren’t the greatest influence in your children’s’ lives. Some of you missed the boat when they were 2 or 3 when boundaries were to be created without crushing their spirits. You know.. All the times when they did bad stuff and you thought it was cute and let it go. You didn’t continue to groom them in the way that they should. You didn’t establish the importance of a relationship with the Lord and the importance of being a child of God. Now, some of you taught them religion..Heck, some of you as adults are still missing the boat. You only know Mommas or Grandmas Jesus and the God that you serve whether you want to admit it or not has limits in what he will do in your life. You live and work under the influence of circumstance and time. God is a mere figure and not a reality in your lives. You react under the influence of fear in times of crisis. You are under the influence of the laws of physics.. Under the influence of your ego.. Your clubs and organizations...You don’t truly believe in God performing miracles.. Doubting Thomas’s … I was riding with my daughter, Alicia and was pointing out incidents at where God was truly showing HIS face on her behalf. Even now, as we have things going on that we are waiting God to do, I stressed the importance of knowing that He not only can, but will do. Negativity drives me nuts! I am doing my best to be an example of faith and one who chooses to be a true disciple. Not just a Facebook or social media figure.. I want her to see me not only talking this talk but living it.. Yeah, I wanna be the Realest Kat she and my other kids know.. It’s so much more than feeding her and putting clothes on her back.. More than the hours spent in the gym or the money spent in attempt to help her pursue her dreams. I told her last night, that my main attempt is to make sure that she knows the Lord, Loves the Lord, and serves the Lord first and foremost. This life will one day end for us all and regardless of how special we think we are, folks will forget us and our feeble attempts to be great in the eyes of man. The only thing that really matters is God and God being pleased with us. I don’t want her influenced by the mindset of this world because it is so off based. A college degree sounds nice.. I great career sounds nice but in the end, it will all be meaningless. When my kids speak of me or think of me, I want them to first say that I so desired for them to be saved and set apart.. That’s the influence that I hope to have. That is the legacy that I hope to leave. I don’t want them to see an unstable man in me.. Preaching Christ one day and boasting on stuff that doesn’t matter the next. I am quick to let them know which things in this world are vain.. I have encouraged her to talk to God with expectation and that her desire is that whatever HE does for her and through her, that HE be glorified.. See, I want my kids to understand the realness of HIM and the limitlessness of him. That we don’t have to do anything in order for HIM to move… He doesn’t need us in order to be awesome. HE is that all by HIMSELF! I told her to always take note of HIS fingerprints and the showing of HIS face. I told her that the more she talks to HIM the more real HE becomes in her life. Then she won’t allow anyone to be able to influence her negatively.. Parents.. If you know God.. Introduce HIM to your children.. Do it over and over again.. That is if you truly know HIM… For those of you who have been faking it, you aren’t fooling anyone.. The proof is in your pudding… Your actions and words say it all. Do it while there is still hope… We all need to be operating under HIS influence.. Under the influence of HIS Holy Spirit.. Not under the influence of doubt, fear, shame, evil, circumstance, time and chance… Discipline them… Be disciplined as well. Do it while there is hope…

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