{"id":190,"date":"2019-03-12T05:00:07","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T10:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/?p=190"},"modified":"2020-04-02T10:09:31","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T15:09:31","slug":"learning-the-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/?p=190","title":{"rendered":"Learning the Limits"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<audio id=\"wp_mep_1\" src=\"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/m4a\/Journey%20Notes%2007%20Learning%20the%20Limits%20Accomp.m4a\"     controls=\"controls\" preload=\"none\"  >\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/audio>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\njQuery(document).ready(function($) {\r\n\t$('#wp_mep_1').mediaelementplayer({\r\n\t\tm:1\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen']\r\n\t\t,audioWidth:,audioHeight:\r\n\t});\r\n});\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n<p>Children are precious.\u00a0 They smile and laugh.\u00a0 They run and play.\u00a0 Best of all, though, they understand with the mind of a child and see through the eyes of a child.\u00a0 Everything is more amazing and more full.\u00a0 Wonder is really wonderful.\u00a0 Joy is really joyful.\u00a0 Color is really colorful.\u00a0 And on the other side of the coin, distress is really distressful.<\/p>\n<p>As they grow, children begin to learn their limits.\u00a0 There are physical limits.\u00a0 They are just so tall.\u00a0 They are just so fast.\u00a0 There are other limits, too.\u00a0 We call them rules.\u00a0 Mom will let children take just so many cookies from the cookie jar.\u00a0 They have to ask, and they have to say, &#8220;Please.&#8221;\u00a0 The cookies are really &#8220;cookieful&#8221; when the rules are followed, but failure to use the magic word means no cookies, and violating the cookie limit can have even more serious consequences.<\/p>\n<p>We are God&#8217;s children on a pilgrim journey to the foot of the cross.\u00a0 Our prayers should be really prayerful.\u00a0 Our thoughts should be really thoughtful.\u00a0 And grace?\u00a0 It comes from God, and it is truly &#8220;grace full.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>We need to learn our limits, too.\u00a0 God created the Garden of Eden and gave mankind access to everything except for one tree.\u00a0 There\u00a0was one limit.\u00a0 The\u00a0tree of the knowledge of good and evil was <em>off <\/em>limits.\u00a0 The garden is gone, as is the tree.\u00a0 But we still have limits.\u00a0 How can we know them?\u00a0 Through study of the scripture and through personal, prayerful communion with God.<\/p>\n<p>William Walford was a blind lay preacher in the 19th century.\u00a0 He had a reputation of knowing the entire Bible by heart.\u00a0 His extensive memory for scripture was not enough, though.\u00a0 To really know God and God&#8217;s will,\u00a0he knew that\u00a0a Christian must pray.<\/p>\n<p>Walford&#8217;s hymn &#8220;<em>Sweet Hour of Prayer<\/em>&#8221; reflects both the joy and the protection that Christians have through a disciplined life of prayer.\u00a0 Reflect on the words of his first verse:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!<br \/>\nthat calls me from a world of care,<br \/>\nand bids me at my Father&#8217;s throne<br \/>\nmake all my wants and wishes known.<br \/>\nIn seasons of distress and grief,<br \/>\nmy soul has often found relief,<br \/>\nand oft escaped the tempter&#8217;s snare<br \/>\nby thy return, sweet hour of prayer!<\/p>\n<p>Answer the call to prayerful time with\u00a0God along your journey today.\u00a0 When you have finished, know the full life that God has for you, and the dutiful service that has been prepared for you.\u00a0 May your wonder be wonderful, your joy be joyful, and your pilgrim journey grace full.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sweet Hour of Prayer (United Methodist Hymnal #496)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZpE-InyrXWs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><em>Follow the Path!<\/em><\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<em>CARadke<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>[Use with <em>The Forbidden Fruit<\/em>, day 7 of <a title=\"Order your copy of A Labyrinth Pilgrimage today!\" href=\"https:\/\/www.createspace.com\/3366946\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>A Labyrinth Pilgrimage<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Children are precious.\u00a0 They smile and laugh.\u00a0 They run and play.\u00a0 Best of all, though, they understand with the mind of a child and see through the eyes of a child.\u00a0 Everything is more amazing and more full.\u00a0 Wonder is &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/?p=190\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thoughts-about-the-journey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1126,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions\/1126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}