What would it take to STAY IN God and not waver. Not sin back and forth. Not be a wishy-washy Christian. Not to be a hypocrite.  Not to revert back to a lifestyle of sin.

Today, let’s talk about Guardrails. Guardrails are barriers that keep you from going into a danger area.  They are before you get to the danger. They are set up in areas that you could technically drive in, but are warning you to not go any further.    They cause a little bit of trouble before you get into a lot of trouble.

Proverbs 22:3 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it

Most folks in here (if you were honest) would admit that the biggest trouble you have been in could have been avoided if there were guardrails or boundaries or habits that you participated in.

Bankruptcy, affairs, addictions, violence, lashing out, sticking your foot in your mouth, cheating, stealing…any sin. That one thing you wish you could take back!

Today, I am not going to give you a bunch of rules or clearly define the guardrails for your family.

There are some guardrails in scripture, but practically, we all need to examine our life and establish guardrails that are from our heart and intricately connected to our heart…forever.

I want to give you the premise of WHY we have them and then give you the freedom to work them out with your family.

Let’s begin with this simple premise:

We start becoming disinterested in God (and churchy stuff) when we start believing a lie about God.  When you believe a lie about God, you sin.

The most classic example is the first recorded sin of Adam and Eve.  They were given clear truth. If you eat the fruit, you will die.  Then, they were told a lie and believed the lie.  God confronted them.  Adam tells God, we hid from you because we were naked and afraid.

God responds in Genesis 3:11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Who lied to you!!?? and why did you believe it?

The devil’s devices are not pitchforks, flames, pointy tail. Instead, they are the most beautiful thing you have ever seen.  They are competing with the Good News of the Gospel.  They try to deconstruct the need for a savior.  Instead, you are the savior.

All the devil has is lies, and paints the picture of deception beautifully with immediate gratification.  His whole intent is for you to stop trusting in Jesus and live a life separate from the gospel.  Everything the devil throws at you is appealing, a lie and is immediate.

Our solution to losing our self in the muck and mire of sin and the dirtiness of life is to BE FOUND in Jesus Christ.  Even Adam and Eve were given a way out.  God loves us so much that He came here to pick us up out of our sin, dust us off, and redeem us put us in a life as if we never believed the lie to begin with.  God is awesome.  We TRUST that God loves us. We TRUST that he forgives us.  We live in that.  We find our Identity in that.

So, what’s our Tactic now?  Put yourself in scenarios where it is extremely difficult to hear the voice of the enemy.  Surround yourself with people who keep telling you the truth.

Guardrails are your family’s Boundaries, Traditions, Habits and Discipline.

Guardrails are intentional barriers that are connected to your conscience.

Guardrails are not here to keep us away from sin or to bind us to holiness.

Guardrails keep us focused on the truth of God instead of listening to and believing the lie of the evil one.

The devil is still on the same mission as he was in the Garden…

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

John 10: 10 The thief (false savior/ref v.8) comes only to steal and kill and destroy (though it appears good). I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Ephesians 5:15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Verse 18 he gives an example of a guardrail to keep you away from sin: And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Verse 19-21 he gives examples of guardrails to keep you focused on Jesus: singing songs, giving thanks, submitting to one another. 

Remember, guardrails are BEFORE sin. They are there to keep you from getting to a place of sin.  They are intentional boundaries you make that will keep you focused on God.  They are intricately connected to your conscience so that when you break them, you feel it.  One of my youth leaders told me, “Robin, keep your pants on.”  That is a guardrail. 

Some of my personal Examples:

• Not going to on trip with or be alone with someone of opposite sex unless it is a direct relative.
• We won’t go to sleep angry with each other.  TOUGH ONE! Leads to some LONG nights.  (We are going over this one in detail next week!)
• We aren’t going to watch rated R movies (PG13 are screened hard!) www.kidsinmind.com
• Our kids aren’t going to play at someone’s house unless we have been there and approve.
• We aren’t going to miss more than one Sunday in a row
• I’m not going more than 3 days without reading the Bible

These are legalistic. These are religious habits.  YES, I know how broken I am. I know how sneaky the devil is.  I don’t trust in the rules to save me.  I believe they will keep me focused on Jesus.  If we only follow rules for the sake of following rules, then we ARE NOT SAVED.

Matthew 15:8 These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.

A key component to Guardrails is the Church Family!  You always need other people to help with Guardrails.

We don’t need them to be a police or to instruct us on how to follow rules.  We don’t need friends that pray for us not to break rules.

We need them to help pray and examine our heart. We want to find out what part of our heart that is not trusting God.

When there are long stretches in our lives where we see a lack of spiritual growth or when we see no passion for morality or no passion to worship God on a regular basis, then we don’t want to respond with creating new habit.

The solution to that dryness is not to simply start following the rules again. (to stop bad things or start doing good things) (elimination of sin or the creation of holiness).  Behind sin and the lack of desire to live for God, is a lie about God.  There is something inside that is not trusting God.

We need others in our lives that help us look deep and find out: where or why am I not trusting in God?

• Examples:
  • you struggle to be honest with your business reporting or financial records. Instead of someone telling you “you need to be honest. You better not cheat”, you need someone or prayer or scripture to reveal to you your lack of trust that God will take care of you is forcing you into doing unethical or illegal action.
  • You don’t feel like praying or reading scripture…ever. Instead of someone telling you, “you need to start reading 15min a day. You better start praying or God is going to no be proud of you. You will disappoint God.”, You need someone to help you discover why your heart is trusting in yourself more than God or why you distrust the creator of the world.

Guardrails are not for the intent of the moral or value themselves, but they are to maintain trust in the gospel.

How do we keep our focus on the gospel and not the cares of this life or this cares of this world or pleasures of this world.

2 Timothy 4:10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…

 What kind of guardrails do you have in your life?