{"id":4035,"date":"2021-07-01T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=4035"},"modified":"2021-06-08T13:07:24","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T18:07:24","slug":"why-making-up-your-own-rules-will-make-you-miserable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2021\/07\/01\/why-making-up-your-own-rules-will-make-you-miserable\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Making Up Your Own Rules Will Make You Miserable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2 minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-78-1024x986.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4036\" width=\"331\" height=\"318\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-78-1024x986.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-78-300x289.png 300w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-78-768x739.png 768w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-78.png 1399w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 331px) 100vw, 331px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Daily Reading: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=2%20Kings%2017&amp;version=GW\">2 Kings 17 GW<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Mark+15&amp;version=GW\">Mark 15 GW<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">God\u2019s rules trump ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since I spent most of my twenties making my own rules, living life my way, I learned this lesson first hand.&nbsp; Growing up, the church was the center of our lives.&nbsp; God\u2019s way was the only way I knew.&nbsp; But after my Dad died, I decided I didn\u2019t like God\u2019s way of doing things.&nbsp; Instead, I thought I\u2019d make my own rules, follow my desires.&nbsp; God gave me what I wanted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cSo God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other\u2019s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.\u201d\u00a0<\/em> <em>(<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Romans%201%3A24-25&amp;version=NLT\"><em>Romans 1:24-25 NLT<\/em><\/a><em>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trading the truth about God for a lie will leave you miserable.&nbsp; When I believed the lie, I ended up alone and broke.&nbsp; My way didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>God\u2019s way gives life.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I turned back to Jesus, He embraced me with open arms.&nbsp; Just like the father in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke%2015%3A11-32&amp;version=NIV\">prodigal son<\/a>, Jesus rejoices when we decide to believe His truth, leaving the lies behind.&nbsp; I knew, from personal experience, making up my own rules didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Implementing God\u2019s rules into your life is a choice you won\u2019t regret.&nbsp; God doesn\u2019t tell us how to live to bring us down; He does so to give us life to the full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I stopped abusing my body and treating it like God\u2019s temple, life changed.&nbsp; My heart healed from the many breaks it endured.&nbsp; Over time, I became whole again, forgiving myself of my past mistakes, becoming a new creation in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">God\u2019s way is the best.&nbsp; Put His commands into practice.&nbsp; Find life to the fullest in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4819\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Three-Word-Prayers-Everyday-Living-ebook\/dp\/B09JT3B6CW\/ref=sr_1_2?crid=18UKNZFIIDIEA&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=three+word+prayers&amp;qid=1635775169&amp;sprefix=three+word+prayers%2Caps%2C69&amp;sr=8-2\">Check out my new release on Amazon<\/a>. Learn how I used prayer to control my emotions and develop healthier relationships in my life. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lord, thank You for loving us, even when we don\u2019t obey.&nbsp; Forgive us for trying to live life on our terms.&nbsp; Help us today follow Your commands.&nbsp; When tempted to fall back into our ways, protect us from ourselves.&nbsp; Help us make good decisions today, putting You first in all things.&nbsp; Let us represent You well as we move through the next 24 hours.&nbsp; Let us find life to the fullest in You.&nbsp; IJNIP. Amen<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Question for reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Whose rules are you following these days?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2 minute read. Daily Reading: 2 Kings 17 GW; Mark 15 GW God\u2019s rules trump ours. Since I spent most of my twenties making my own rules, living life my way, I learned this lesson first hand.&nbsp; Growing up, the church was the center of our lives.&nbsp; God\u2019s way was the only way I knew.&nbsp;&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2021\/07\/01\/why-making-up-your-own-rules-will-make-you-miserable\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Why Making Up Your Own Rules Will Make You Miserable<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4035"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4041,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4035\/revisions\/4041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}