Winds of Life

My Canoe @ Urban Ecology Center

Nature consistently provides me with some kind of life or biblical application. Today on my canoe, enjoying the sound of nothing but birds chirping and bugs buzzing about, I stopped rowing and laid back to take it all in. For a few moments I closed my eyes, and after opening them only moments later, I realized the wind was pushing the boat towards a patch of reeds I was about to get stuck in.

Life is like that. If we let winds of negative influences, improper motives, temptation & stress impact us more than our God-given direction and obedience, we end up where we don't want to be, or shouldn't be, sometimes completely turned around – stuck, even.

When we let the wind blow us away it's that much more work to get back to where we wanted to be. Difficulty increases because we then have to return against the current. Stay focused and don't let the winds of life take control of your direction.

In The Word

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. - Ephesians 4:14 (NIV)

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. - James 1:6-8 (NIV)

Over The Hedge: Boundaries

What’s a hedge?
Hedges are boundaries.
Mark 12:1 Jesus said, “A man planted a vineyard… and set a hedge around it.”

First, the man planted a vineyard.

The Hebrew word for hedge means something which surrounds or encloses, whether it be a stone wall or a fence of other materials. The stone walls which surround the sheepfolds of modern Palestine are frequently topped with sharp thorns.


What do hedges do?
*Next, the man in the parable (Mark 12) placed a hedge around his vineyard. Why?

• To protect it from intrusion by animals and thieves
• to keep his vines inside his vineyard
• and to separate his territory from his neighbors.

A hedge makes the statement, “Private Property, No Trespassing.” The symbolic hedges around our lives serve the same purpose. The goal is to keep the good things in—and the bad things out.


Examples of Physical (Literal, Tangible) Hedges from the Bible
Proverbs 24:30-32 
Ezekiel 42:10 – A hedge is described in the vision of the temple.
Stone Walls, Fences, Shrubs, can all be considered hedges


Examples of Spiritual Hedges from the Bible
Job 1:10 Job 3:23


What do spiritual hedges do?
*Think of yourself as a vineyard.  In Ezekiel, a hedge surrounds the temple – (We are the temple of Christ)
1 Cor 3:16

• To protect us from intrusion by the enemy
• to provide us with structure and healthy boundaries (keep his vines inside his vineyard)
• and to set us apart (separate his territory)


What are the boundaries/hedges God has provided? Establishing boundaries under God’s direction...

Proper mental, emotional, and spiritual boundaries enable us to focus on God’s love for us, as well as the ways in which He can use us to better serve the Body of Christ.
Psalms 119:65-66 - Proverbs 3:5-6 - Colossians 1:9-12 - Psalms 32:8 - Proverbs 4:23

* Respecting the boundaries of others
Philippians 2:3-4

* Hedges are not a sign of God’s disapproval.
Just as the toddler ignores the dozens of toys at hand in order to reach for the item high on a shelf, we often desire the thing God has not allowed to us. In many cases, this is a form of rebellion against His will.


What if we disregard or ignore that hedge?

* It opens the door for the enemy
Example “poor security”. Open doors. Open windows. Unlocked areas of our lives.
Spend some time checking the “security”. Give the enemy no place. Our responsibility as a believer is to inventory our lives to check to see if it matches up with God’s desire for us to live.
Eph 4:25-27 (The Message version says Don't give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.)

*The enemy has authority in our lives in direct proportion to the levels of submission and obedience we have to the Lord’s desires for our lives.
James 4:7

Fact is…Jesus gave His life for us. Our greatest thankfulness is to give our lives wholly to Him.  If we hold on to portions of our lives that harbor disobedience to the heart of God, we open the door for the enemy to traffic in and out of.

*Disobedience is any action or attitude that Scripture tells you NOT to do or have, or any action that Scripture instructs us to do and we refuse to do it. (Sins of commission & Sins of omission)
Romans 6:16-18

*Example - Have you known a child or been a child, who has stuck a paper clip in an electrical socket or a knife in the toaster even after being warned of the impending shock? Did YOU shock them? Did YOU cause the pain and the singed hairs? No. You warned them or impending danger but let them choose their course of action. Protection begins with the action of warning and instructing but must be followed through with obedience.

* What is God’s heart for my life? What would please Him? What might not please Him that needs to be forsaken?

* We risk gaining an inheritance from Christ
Ephesians 5:1-5

* Generational curses repeat themselves (you’re going to be just like your father; like mother, like daughter)
Ezekiel 16:44-48

*Can even worsen – worse than what our families did before us.

*Families don’t always talk about their problems and addictions, etc (hidden, skeletons in closet)

*You may be in the process of repeating a generational curse that you aren’t even aware of! History can repeat itself!


Maintaining our hedge

*God will keep helping us grow.
Philippians 1:6 - Ephesians 2:10 - Psalms 27:13-14

*Even when trials weaken us, we still can maintain boundaries and grow
Romans 5:3-5