Parental Fault Lines (3/20/2014)

Greetings Everyone,

All honor and glory be to God for providing us with another day of endless opportunities. PRAYER REQUESTS: Please keep my friends Dion, Kimberly, and their families in prayer, as well as for me and mine; we have very specific circumstances that we are currently dealing with, both individually and as a unit. However, to maintain our privacy, our circumstances shall remain unspoken; please pray as the Spirit leads. ANNOUNCEMENTS: due to technical difficulties, production gaps for the SOD may continue until I am able to invest in a more reliable computer system. Additionally, if you or someone you know are interested in helping out my organization, we have a community service event commencing on March 30th and we are in need of toiletry items for male and females, bibles, bottled water, and sealed food items (e.g. jerky, peanut butter crackers, trail mix, etc.). For our year-round pre-sale See's Candies fundraiser, the deadline to purchase items for this month is next Thursday (the 27th); if you want to place an order, get with myself or one of my reps, providing your desired item number(s) and funds (refer to the attached pre-sale item form). Lastly, my organization's website will be down for the next few months... I was not informed by my hosting carrier that there was a separate process to renew my domain name aside from renewal costs paid for the website. After the redemption period is up, my domain name could go into auction status and be sold to someone else; I could however, pay a $160 fee now, which I don't have, to redeem rights to my domain; let's just pray that God keeps the domain name reserved for me. I thank you in advance for your understanding, your prayers, and your contributions. HEALTHY LIVING TIPS: "Wine: A modest amount of wine is good for your mental health as well as your heart. Two to seven glasses of wine each week reduce the likelihood of developing depression. P.S. If you don't drink now, don't start." (Simon, N. (2013, December). Surprising health benefits of 12 everyday foods. AARP The Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.aarp.org). "To IMPROVE is to CHANGE" ~Winston Churchill~  #Be encouraged! 

JOIN OUR CAUSE: Fostering Mind, Body, and Soul Incorporated (FMBS Inc.) is on a never-ending quest to locate deserving individuals to extend our services to. Therefore we are always in need of monetary donations and/or contributions of hygiene items, sealed snacks, bottled water, winter items (gloves, scarves, blankets), mini bibles, etc.; our YEAR-ROUND mission is to serve homeless and/or needy individuals and families in underprivileged communities throughout Southern California. Speaking of "year-round," our See's Candies fundraiser is year-round aside from holiday themed fundraisers; you may request a catalog and make a purchase at any time, all profits outside of sales cost will benefit our organization's day-to-day operations. We are a NON-profit 501(c)(3) federally exempt organization, which means that ALL donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE. NO matter how big or small your contribution or donation is, YOU are helping someone in need. We encourage YOU to participate in our ongoing campaign whenever and however you can. If you were on the receiving end and needed a helping hand, wouldn't you want someone to reach out to you? Accept this opportunity to HELP LIVES. If interested in supporting our organization and helping others, simply make a donation and/or a contribution; make all checks payable to FMBS Inc., provide one of our representatives with your cash donation/contribution, or use the PayPal link located on our website. We are successful because of YOUR continued support.

 

For more information about our organization, visit our website at http://www.fmbs-inc-bytye.org (temporarily unavailable) and/or add our Facebook page Fostering Mindbodyandsoul and Twitter @FMBSInc. On behalf of my team of volunteers, I thank you in advance. ~Tylesha "Tye" Allen, CEO/Founder, FMBS Inc. Est. 2012~

 

BE RENEWED: Transform your mind, body, and soul TODAY because tomorrow is NOT promised; by feeding your body healthy nutrition, and being cautious of what things you allow your eyes, ears, and spirits to be exposed to (e.g. media, books, TV, music, etc.), YOU can start anew and become a better you. CHANGE BEGINS WITHIN... Continue to keep one another in prayer, thanking God for the victory, and refraining from claiming defeat from the enemy; ALWAYS pray for your desired result, NOT the unfavorable outcome. Do NOT lose sight of God in the midst of adversity. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, "be the change that you want to see in the world." Have a blessed rest of the week.

Lord please clear our minds, and open our eyes and ears so that we may see, hear, and receive your intended message from this fellowship. In the name of Jesus, Amen!

 

Passage - Isaiah 5:4:

"What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?"

***Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the New Living Translation (NLT) of the Bible***

"Within the first three verses of Isaiah chapter 5, God’s care for His children is compared to a vineyard that has been provided all it needed to thrive and produce good grapes; "but it produced only worthless ones." God’s nurture was not to blame for His children’s nature. God is the perfect Father. Yet even after He provided the best conditions for His children to be raised within, they turned out bad at this point. My wife and I raised two children as best we could; providing them care and treatment as equal as we could. But the person each has become is quite different. One is responsible; the other is not. One values faith and following Christ; the other does not. It seems that in our world today, it is often all too easy to blame the parents when children do bad things. That is too simplistic an approach and we should remember that "in the way [we] judge, [we] will be judged; and by [our] standard of measure, it will be measured to [us]." (Mt. 7:1). Parents will make mistakes, but they are not the only influence in a child's rearing. Other people, peers, teachers, selfish desires, and even the devil can influence us negatively as we grow and live. A parent should not quickly take all the blame; nor should others be too quick to assign it. God was, and is, the perfect Father. His children are not perfect. How could we think we could do better than God?" (Chambers, R. (2014). Parental Fault Lines. Retrieved from http://reflections.daybyday.org)

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It's interesting, because another devotional I read this morning mirrored the one above. Almost instantly, people place the blame on prodigal and delinquent children on their parents and/or upbringing. But how does that explain how a child brought up in a wealthy home with a great upbringing, could develop into a murderous robber (Google the North Hollywood Robber)? If "the parents" are always the blame, how is it that one or more of an insubordinate child's siblings choose a life that is upright, successful, and legal, while he or she chooses a life of drug addition, promiscuity, crime, and hate? There are a number of reasons that attribute to one's misbehaviors, but "the parents" aren't always one of them. The gist of both devotionals is this: it is unrealistic to assume that good parents always raise good children or the reverse. People who rebel are born with that tendency; we all have free will to be influenced negatively or positively, even as children. However, we either change to improve, or continue to be set in our ways without any growth. So next time you make a premature assumption that a child's ill behavior is a direct result of his or her parents' influence, remember that God loves EVERYONE regardless of their imperfections; STOP assuming, and STOP judging and use the energy spent developing negative thoughts, to pray for the individual(s) and their families. 

Prayer of the Day:

Father God we thank you for life, health, and strength. We thank you for the strength we need to forgive those who have wronged us, the same way you continuously grant us forgiveness, and for placing upon those we have wronged the same desire, that we too may be forgiven by them. More so Father, we thank you for removing the guilt we once placed on self, and for removing every thought that has held us captive in our own minds. Lord we ask that you will touch Dion, Kimberly, Tylesha, and their respective families; they each have their own individual concerns, as well as issues that may be affecting their loved ones as well; touch them, bless them, comfort them, and deliver them from any burdens. We thank you for providing each of us with the clear and concise revelations we need in order to overcome the adversary. Thanks for helping us to see, hear, and feel your presence through every trial and tribulation. We thank you for discernment to know the difference between good and bad, right from wrong, and your will vs. our own desires. Thanks for provision, guidance, and protection from Satan’s attacks. By the authority in our words, we reverse all the negativity spoken into existence within our individual lives and the lives of our loved ones and associates. We take back everything the enemy has stolen from us, and bind every evil and malicious plot, plan, and scheme devised against us, in the matchless name of Jesus. Lord we also grant your angels permission to do our bidding on Earth without recourse. This is our affirmation of faith Father God; we submit our petition to you and thank you in advance for working it all out. All these things we claim in the name of Jesus, Amen!

Respectfully,

Tylesha "Tye" Allen

"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." (Psalm 118:8)

Ministry Blog: http://sodbytye.blogspot.com/

Non-profit Website: http://fmbs-inc-bytye.org/

Your independent Herbalife distributor/health coach: Tye.HL24@gmail.com

Change begins within; work on becoming a better You