Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality STUDY 5 the gift of Limits


 

EHS STUDY 5 the gift of Limits

In Study 4, we learned how God uses the weaknesses of our lives to move in spiritual power and love, and we noted that none of us walks through a fallen world without a few "cracks" to show for it.  As we begin to live in brokenness and vulnerability, we become increasingly aware of our limits. This becomes one of the most difficult lessons to learn in life: that each of us is profoundly limited in who we can be and what we can do, and that these limits are actually a gift from God.

CONNECT

1.        What is one task can you spend hours at and still be enthusiastic?

What is one task that drains you and you seek to avoid?

STARTERS

2.            On a    scale of 1 -4  (1    not true,2 = sometimes true,3 = mostly true,=4  very true), rate yourself on the following:

·         too little time and too much to do            _________        

·         Constantly feeling pressured or restless_________

·         breaking promises of quality time with family or friends _________

·         resenting some of your commitments and projects _________

·         trying to live beyond who you are or what you can do with the limits God has given you _________

        How does this impact your inner joy in God, in your close relationships, and in your service for Christ?

 

Text Box: A Life within Limits Jesus modeled a life lived within his Father's limits. He fully accepted his humanity and graciously received all the limitations that came with it. He bought food the human way. He rested and slept the human way. Furthermore, although his heart was for the world, Jesus honored the God-given limits of his mission and ministry. As a result, he did not fulfill every need during his short earthly-life. He disappointed the crowd's expectations of who he should be: Yet he lived a full life, true and faithful to who he was. He was ability to say to his Father: "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do" (John 17:4). That is God is call for each of us.

 BIBLE STUDY

3.       Read Mark 1:32-39.

What stands out for you in this passage?

Why do you think they were looking for Jesus?

What do you think the disciples thought when Jesus told them they were going to move on to other villages?

Text Box: Jesus left a town in great need and in the midst of a revival. Often we feel very un-Christlike when we turn away hurting people. But here, Jesus Christ does just that.What does Jesus say his motivating reason is?

4.            In what situations is it difficult for you to say no? Why? 

5.            What allow Jesus to have a sense of completion and satisfaction in his work (JN 17:4)?

 

6.            Read Mark 2:13-17

                What stands out for you in this passage?

                Describe what you know about the Pharisees?

The teachers of the Law and Pharisees  tried to impose their values on Jesus but he refused to be controlled or limited by others.   How does he manage to do that?

Brett talked about “Oughts” and “shoulds.” How do you manage the tension between doing what you or others think you ought to do versus what you want to do or God is calling you do to?

                What might be some of the consequences if you go beyond what God has asked you to do?

Text Box: What limits Look like Limits come in all shapes and sizes. Some are temporary, while others stay with us our entire lives. Some come from the inside, while others come from the outside. A limit can be a situation in life (e.g., an ailing parent), a scar from the past (e.g., bouts of depression because of childhood abuse), a personality trait (e.g., needing lots of alone time to recharge), or a physical reality (e.g., needing eight hours of sleep each night to stay healthy).APPLICATIONS

 7.           While our culture resists the idea of limits, it is critical that we embrace them. Take a moment and list some of the limits God has given you at this stage of your life. Consider the following categories:

•                     personality/temperament

•                     number of talents/gifts

•                     scars and wounds from your family and past

•                     emotional needs and capacity

•                     relational status (married or single) and family obligations

•                     place where you live

•                     finances and resources

•                     intellectual capacity

•                     spiritual understanding

•                     other


Share two or three significant limits God has placed in your life. Instead of seeing these limits as our "enemies," how might they be our "friends" from God?

Text Box: Faithful to Your True Self Rabbi Zusya, when he was an old man, said, "In the coming world, they will not ask me: 'Why were you not Moses?' They will ask me, 'Why were you not Zusya?'" The true vocation for every human being is, as Kierkegaard said, "the will to be oneself." (EHC, p. 149) 

   

 

 

 

8.            What do you think it might look like for you to be faithful to your "true self,"  i.e. the person God uniquely created you to be?

In what way(s) is that more difficult than living out what other people, authorities, or the culture think you should do with your life?

 

  Wrapping up

Maturity in life is when we live joyfully within our God-given limits. Take a few minutes and pray for one another that each of you might live a life that fits your God-given nature, a· life faithful to your true self, a life that gladly reflects your God-given weaknesses and limitations.

 

GOING DEEPER

■             Pray through the list of limits you made for question7 and begin to thank God for each one of them. Ask him to show you how to receive them as a gift from him instead of a curse or hindrance.

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Married with Children. my wonderful wife is Sue. I have 2 sons Paul in Gisborne David In Napier