{"id":382,"date":"2020-10-09T11:40:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T03:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carolyngailedwards.com\/livingfearless\/?p=382"},"modified":"2020-10-09T11:44:42","modified_gmt":"2020-10-09T03:44:42","slug":"whose-life-is-this-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carolyngailedwards.com\/livingfearless\/whose-life-is-this-anyway\/","title":{"rendered":"Whose Life Is This Anyway?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Ever felt like your life is not your own, all the competing pressures, jobs, voices.\u00a0 Its bad enough what each new day brings but often the voices & behaviours from our past contend for our time and space in the present.<\/span><\/p>

Have you ever said \u2018Stop the World, I want to get off\u2019, surely I\u2019m not the only one?\u00a0 And whilst there is much behind us saying this to ourselves, today let\u2019s address our perception of Whose Life Is This<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>

What do you believe around concepts like:<\/p>

  • YOU choose your actions;<\/li>
  • Even not making a decision is a decision;<\/li>
  • You are responsible for your responses;<\/li>
  • Life is what YOU make it;<\/li>
  • Life is like a box of chocolates;<\/li>
  • Fake it \u2018til you make it;<\/li>
  • All good things come to those who wait; or<\/li>
  • Its hard to fly like an eagle when your surrounded by a bunch of turkeys;<\/li>
  • My life would be different if I wasn\u2019t abused, if I didn\u2019t have that car accident, if my wife really loved me, if I had children, if I had more money\/time\/friends\u2026..; and<\/li>
  • I\u2019ve got so much to do.<\/li><\/ul>

    Have you thought these things, do you operate from them, I\u2019m not debating (today \"\ud83d\ude09\") here the right or wrong of them, I just want you to get the gist of what they are telling us.<\/p>

    When you look at each of these concepts, that to some become fundamental beliefs, we can see that there is a strong sense of \u2018I\u2019 involved.\u00a0 That supports the idea that this is OUR life, that I\u2019m here, I\u2019m present, this is ME, even I\u2019m unique a one off.<\/p>

    Can you see how this has been supported in the way some raise their kids.\u00a0 Now\u2019s not the time to dive into the whys of how we got here.\u00a0 I want to show you what the Bible tells us about WHOSE LIFE IS THIS ANYWAY.<\/p>

    God created you, on purpose, with intention, to fulfil His purpose.\u00a0 You are the way you are because you were created.\u00a0 You are designed according to the Why of your creation.\u00a0 Lets look at two Bible verses.<\/p>

    The Lord Almighty has sworn, <\/em>
    \u201cSurely, as I have planned, so it will be,<\/em>
    and as I have purposed, so it will happen. Isaiah 14:24<\/em><\/p>

    People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. Hebrews 6:16-17<\/em><\/p>

    Here we see that God both promised and made an oath so its \u2018very clear\u2019 to us that what He purposes will happen.\u00a0 Now look at these verses:<\/p>

    He has saved us and called us to a holy life\u2014not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time 2 Timothy 1:8-9<\/em><\/p>

    Many are the plans in a person\u2019s heart,<\/em>
    but it is the Lord\u2019s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21<\/em><\/p>

    So now we see that we were created for His purpose.\u00a0 WHOSE LIFE IS IT ANYWAY \u2013 clearly its God\u2019s.\u00a0 Now this SHOULD fill you with joy, you should shout in triumph, you should rest in His perfect planning.\u00a0 No more do you have to feel like your life is not your own and be totally despondent about it but rather be totally jubilant.<\/p>

    So why do we feel despondent, why to we say \u2018Stop the world, I want to get off\u2019 \u2013 purely because we have failed to go to the creator and say \u201cHey \u2013 why did you make me? \u2013 what is the \u2018WHY\u2019 of my creation? \u2013 what was my intended purpose?\u201d.\u00a0 We are living under the false belief that this is OUR life, that we determine our days and we struggle because this false belief does not hold up under water \u2013 obviously \u2013 because we are feeling as if our life is not our own.<\/p>

    Why don\u2019t you take a moment today, have a conversation with God in prayer and in reading the Bible, and just simply ask \u201cWhy am I ME?\u201d open your heart to hear you are loved so much that all your days were determined before your first day.\u00a0 That yes you are unique \u2013 but not so you can be an \u2018I\u2019 \u2013 but so you fulfil Gods plan.<\/p>

    This is the plan determined for the whole world;<\/em>
    this is the hand stretched out over all nations.<\/em>
    For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?<\/em>
    His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? Isaiah 14:26-27<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ever felt like your life is not your own, all the competing pressures, jobs, voices.\u00a0 Its bad enough what each new day brings but often the voices & behaviours from our past contend for our time and space in the present. Have you ever said \u2018Stop the World, I want to get off\u2019, surely I\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"right-sidebar","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-identity","category-warrior","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolyngailedwards.com\/livingfearless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolyngailedwards.com\/livingfearless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolyngailedwards.com\/livingfearless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolyngailedwards.com\/livingfearless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolyngailedwards.com\/livingfearless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/carolyngailedwards.com\/livingfearless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":387,"href":"https:\/\/carolyngailedwards.com\/livingfearless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions\/387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolyngailedwards.com\/livingfearless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolyngailedwards.com\/livingfearless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolyngailedwards.com\/livingfearless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}